Some of you might already have read this chapter last week, when I published the wrong one. If you did not know, the right one is just one chapter back. When I published this chapter by mistake, it was far from finished, so for those of you who wants to read the completed version, I'd recommend for you to reread it.

THE TOUCH OF A HEALER

Lana let one of her eyelids slip halfway open to greet the sunlight that had entered through the unexposed window glass on each side of Drakes bed.

Both of her eyes widened as she realized were she was, and as soon as she recalled the memories of exactly what she had been doing, she felt like throwing up. She had literally slept with the enemy. There were no other ways to put it, and all the fear she once had tried to suppress, it was all gone now. Overpowered by shame, guilt, and remorse.

She tried to sit up, but was stopped. First off, spasms shot through her legs whenever she moved. Secondly, there was a set of arms tugged around her, keeping her in place.

There was no necessity in seeing who the arms belonged to, she knew all to well who it was. Though she couldn't help but glance over her shoulder to feel Drakes steady breath on her lips. He was asleep, that was for sure. And she'd rather prefer if it stayed that way. That is why she fought the urge to either whimper or scream as the agony tore at her burning legs when she tried to wiggle her way out of his grip.

It must have looked funny from afar. But it wasn't. Nothing close to it, actually. Her legs were on fire, she was trying to get away from a ticking bomb, which would explode at any second now if she wasn't extremely cautious.

As if the physical pain wasn't bad enough, the thought of him waking up was tearing at her very soul, agitating her further. What would he do then? Would he kiss her over again with a fiery passion? Would he cut her in new places where there was still fresh, undamaged skin? Or would he ignore her and leave her alone in his room, not returning before she had left?

She freed herself and walked stiffly across the room, picking up her pants, undergarments, shirt, sockets, jacket, boots. As she did so, she was overwhelmed by the fear of him waking up. But she wasn't afraid that he'd suspect her of running away. No, she was afraid that he'd be looking down at her fully exposed body. Her naked, damaged body, and he'd be thinking of her as nothing but a slut. And he'd be taking disadvantage of it.

The thought made her shudder and she quickly entered the small bathroom which was connected to the bedroom. She put all of her clothing on the sink tabletop other then her underwear which she put on right away. Although a shower was much needed, she didn't consider it a worthy risk.

So she pulled on her shirt as well, and her shirt and jacket. And then came the tricky part; her pants.

The fingers on one of her hand found itself tracing the unbearable scars which were left on the inside of her thigh, whole hand shaking from the gesture as signals were sent to her brain about the pain going on.

She found herself forgetting Drake completely as her focus swirled around the pain, the wounds, the infections that were soon to come. She was barely able to pull her hand away before she was able to heal more then just part of one of the seven slashes.

Let the scars stay, she thought to herself, trickily pulling up her pants on and zipping them closed. A sting of pain surged through her. It would keep hurting, and it would make her keep going as she'd walk down towards the town. It would make her aware of just why she was leaving in the first place.

Later, the wounds would turn into scars, and they'd remind her of why she was where she was. Why she wasn't returning. She was never coming back here.

She stared into the mirror at the reflection of him on the bed, on the other side of the still open door. Looking at him confused her. His mouth was slightly open, lips curved, eyelids slid softly over his eyes. How come this peaceful young boy was actually a serial killer? If he wasn't already, he sure as hell would become it soon. And she sure as hell wasn't going to stay to see it happen.

Lana put on her boots before reentered the bedroom. She stalked over to the empty bed beside Drakes, picking up her gun from her bedside table. It felt heavy in her hand, heavier then it had the day before when she had picked it up of the ground. Protection, that was all it had been to her the day before. And now?

Lana walked over to were Drake was lying all to peacefully. She leaned the cold metal against his temple, but he didn't move a muscle. Had she expected him to wake up from the touch of the metal?

She pulled back the slide of the semi-automatic pistol, hearing the bullet being jolted into place. Her muscles tensed, a shiver ran up her spine and she froze in place. Actually, a shiver shook her whole frame as thoughts all to violent for her liking struck her mind.

Now what?

She lowered her arms in defeat, unloading the gun, careful not to hurt either of them. The gun was securely tugged to her waistband, though in a way that she could get it right away if anything would happen.

As she was about to turn and take a run for the door, something stopped herself. What, her heart? Maybe, maybe not. Anyhow, she leant down and pressed her lips against his. Everything about it made her want to laugh because it looked so pathetic. And it was pathetic. How could she possibly be in love with this guy? How could it be so hard for her to say goodbye?

Weakness. That was it. The Darkness had made her weak and scared. She seeked a savor, a warrior and mistook the hero for the villain. Yet she had felt a connection no matter how shattered it was and that was why she was struggling to pull away from him and accept the fact that he was nothing but danger and another puppet of the Darkness.

And she wasn't going to stay to let the puppeteer pull her strings.

Considering this, she stepped back from the boy before her and turned before she could choose otherwise, walking silently towards the exit. Knowing that she wasn't just leaving Drake behind, but the Darkness as well, made her feel more lighthearted at the thought of escape.

She closed the bedroom door behind her, slowly not to make any noise, though quick, because she was longing to get the hell out of there. The door had just barely been shut when a voice behind her made her stop in her tracks:

'Unbelievable,'

Lanas head spun to greet the devilish smirking girl before her.

'Spying much?' She glared at her, feeling rage building up inside her. The intimidating anger was overpowered by the blush creeping up her cheeks to greet the embarrassment and shame eating her from the inside and out. She knew. She'd have to be an idiot not to.

'Me? No, that's what we've got Bug for. I was the one who spotted you arriving late last night, but I sent Bug to follow you. He came back an hour later, telling me that you'd gone to Drakes room.' Diana stated, smirking knowingly. Then she walked closer, and leaning forward with a playful smirk as if exposing some really big gossip and the fact that she spoke the next sentence in a hushed tone surely didn't help. 'He said that you didn't come back out.'

Lana stayed quiet. Her expectations had been confirmed, and of course, Diana just had to rub it in.

'And he stated that he heard weird moaning sounds coming from the room, as well.' Dianas smirk widened even further - if that was even possible. What a bitch acting like she was. Feeding off of Lanas humiliation.

'Where is Caine?' she asked. Part of her was so desperately trying to change the subject. The other part was anxious of how he'd react when he found out. Dianas face went blank.

'He's gone,' she replied, showing no emotions at all. If she had any second thought of the theme, she was doing one hell of a good job suppressing her feelings.

'He poofed?' Lana asked. Shocked.

'No, he left. About half an hour or so before you arrived here, he just... left. No explanation or anything. If anyone was sad about loosing the fight, it was him. I bet he's drinking his sorrows down with some help from our dear friend mister alcohol, or what?' Diana said, her sly smile back. She said it as if it was a joke that was supposed to be funny. Lana didn't laugh.

Dianas expression slowly faded and she coughed lightly as if she now found the scene slightly awkward as well.

'Anyways, another big loss, was loosing you. We've always had great use for you, and when Caine sobers up, he'll be happy to see that you've come back.' She said, lips pulling yet another smile, though her eyes didn't retreat the favor. She turned her back on Lana, walking down the hallway.

'I'm not staying,' Lana sounded stronger then she felt. She sounded sure of herself. Safer with her decision then how she truly felt. Diana must've gotten the message clearly, because as soon as she said it, she turned back facing Lana.

'You think it's that easy?' Diana asked, looking somewhat offended by what Lana had just stated. She didn't walk back to where they had spoken earlier, the gap made her speak louder. Neither did Lana move from where she was still standing outside Drakes door, fingertips resting on the handle.

'Don't tell me you're that naive, Lana!' Diana glared at her, seemingly pissed off now. What had she done to upset her?

'Drake is attached to you. When we left town yesterday, without you, I could truly see sorrow in his eyes.' Diana stated, calming her voice down, still hatred showing clearly in her eyes.

'Drake isn't capable of expressing such an emotion,' Lana mumbled, more to herself then to Diana. Soothing herself, to not make her paranoid of her decision. Hesitantly, she let go of the door handle, walking towards Diana.

This was partly so that if they started screaming at each other, Drake wouldn't hear it as well and might not wake up to find her. But a bigger part of her, told her to get the hell away from that door before she'd decide to stay with him.

Weak.

'He feels great ownership of you, you know.' Diana continued as Lana came closer. Her voice was still calm. For now. 'After loosing the war, Sam forbid everyone who's still on Caines side to return to town. It was like telling Drake that he had to turn good, if he ever wanted to see his valuable treasure, ever again. And then you returned last night, and he felt like he'd found what he'd been looking for.'

'Am I supposed to be touched by that? Find that ultimately cliche statement somewhat flattering that he supposedly has uncontrollable feelings that keep putting me in situations that include me being in agonizing pain?'

'And that is my fault? Or even his? What the hell do you think you're doing Lana? Drake is a sadistic psychopath, and what he is doing is nothing less then we could expect from him. You on the other hand...' Diana almost whispered. 'What you're doing is a suicide mission.'

'He's a sadistic psychopath and that is the exact reason I'm leaving,'

'You are such an idiot,' Diana burst out, arms lifted at her sides in exasperation. 'You're playing with fire, that is what you're doing. And you're gonna get burned. Hard.'

'He already has...' Lana mumbled weakly, feeling Dianas words overpowering her.

'You've experienced nothing just yet, Lana.'

She didn't know what to answer. She just stared emptily at the girl before her.

'He'll come for you. And when he finds you, you'll get the full experience of what hell is. And trust me when I say this; he will find you.' She said, voice growing stronger, more determined for each word.

'You can't be so sure of that. I still have the chance to run off. And if I do, I might be safe.' Lana said. She said it halfheartedly, making her brain process the words and believe it. Although she didn't.

'Might be safe. And the odds are set so god damn high at the moment, that your chances at freedom is totally shattered.' to anyone else it just sounds over exaggerated, but to anyone who had spent some "quality time" with Drake, they'd know how under exaggerated that sentence truly was.

'Is that why you're still here?' Lana suddenly outburst. The comment shut her up efficiently, though the only reason she asked in the first place was out of curiosity.

They stayed quiet for what felt like something close to forever. Both studying each other, trying to figure out what the others deal was. What was going on in the head of the other one. At least Lana was. Diana seemed more focused on burning a hole through Lanas scalp, rather then actually thinking of anything.

Diana was the one to break the silence through a hoarse whisper.

'I've made quite a few mistakes,' she started, the eye contact with Lana still held, but focussed on something else. Lana recognized that expression all to well. 'Mistakes is the keyword to a oneway ticket to this place. And yes, every student who went to this school is messed up, but I deserve all I get.'

Her eyes said otherwise. They were filled with remorse, and Lana felt sad for her.

'I've done shitloads of crap through the short time that I've lived. There was a reason I was sent to Coates in the first place, you know. But you deserve none of what I get. Especially considering that the person who is supposedly "in love" with you, is the one guy that is a bigger psychopath then mine.'

Lana winced at the words in love. Suddenly her stomach tied into a tight knot. How would Drake handle waking up if the person he loved had left him. And how would his mental condition affect his actions when he found her?

'What are you referring to?' Lana asked, suddenly confused. At first, Diana had told her not to go, and now it was as if she wanted nothing more then for Lana to make it out of there.

'I honestly do not know. My thoughts can become two sided from times to times. It can be a good thing, to see an issue from another set of eyes, yet I don't believe it was to any help in this case.'

'So...' Lana started, holding her palms out in front of herself as if requesting a timeout. 'You're saying that I should leave?'

Diana sighed heavily, sounding, looking, seeming extremely annoyed with Lana.

'I was sent here by my parents,' Diana started, hatred filling her voice. 'I was only ten, and they just sent me away. Caine got a sudden interest in me, and when I hung out with him, it became permanent. I was captured at this school, making it impossible to get away. I didn't chose this life. You can chose what you want to make out of the time you spend inside this hellhole, and if I were you, I definitely wouldn't chose this place. And I'm very surprised that you even considered your options in the first place.'

They stayed still, eyes locked, lips sealed and without having to say anything, do anything, they both knew what was going to happen. But the fact that Diana had told Lana to leave made her even more hesitant. She'd have to leave now, before she'd get any further dubious.

Before either of them could react, Diana stepped forward pulling Lana into a brief and awkward hug. Lana didn't even have time to hug back before she was released. At first, Diana repeated her awkward cough from moments earlier. Then, she gave her a sad smile and rested her hand on Lanas arm.

'Just remember that even if you make it down to Perdido beach, you won't be safe.' She said, squeezing Lanas arm lightly, and letting go, letting her arm fall to her side. 'There is not much covering I can do for you here, and without Caine here having my back, I can not reassure you that Drake won't come after you.'

Lana nodded and made the corners of her lips bend into a small smile.

She walked around Diana, and from the corner of her eye, she could make out Diana turning around facing Lanas back. The only footsteps heard were Lanas as she walked towards the exit, confirming that Diana wasn't following her.

Lana extended her arms before her, letting the doors slide open and stepping through into the broad day light. If she hurried, she'd make it back before dawn. Her legs hurt to move, but that just increased her motivation as she made her way towards town.

Towards safety.

Do not worry. The story isn't over, although some people might have gotten that impression. But I have serious writers block, so it might be a long while until you'll get another chapter. Let's just call it a spring finale or something! Be sure to check out my other stories until then! :)

Thanks to Just Anny for your lovely review, although it was on this chapters unedited version. Hope more of you will take initiative to write your thoughts on the chapter down bellow!