Picking Up The Pieces
Other: This is the second to last chapter! I was thinking about doing a sequel - If I did it would focus more on their every day life/drama of their life but it would also have Drake as the main evil in it. What do you guys think?
Thabile Mofokeng: Never fear I try not to leave stories unfinished. Once I wrote a story that I had one chapter left but it took me months to do it though I was determined to finish it. It's why I warn everyone that I am very slow at updates. I will try and update faster, promise! ;)
Chapter Twenty Nine
Nerezza pulled herself from the wall just in time for Brianna's blurred hands to swing the bat around and connected with her jaw, snapping her head backwards with a sickening cracking sound. Then Edilio brought around the metal pipe had had found in one of the more broken down buildings that looked like it belonged to some part under the seat and connected it with the back of he knee that was already torn, bleeding and burnt. She collapsed to the ground and let out an animal like hiss just as Taylor appeared with her own wooden cricket bat, slamming it down as hard as she could on Nerezza's stomach and chest, sobbing and screaming with every swing she made. The three of them didn't let up, beating every limb and body part that they could find. By the end they were all out of breath and still going. Finally Nerezza lay unmoving and Edilio was the first to step away from her. Taylor was the last, still crying before Astrid grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. The FAYZ affected a few people more than others, Brianna and Edilio were strong but Taylor wasn't and the idea that she might have to go back was too much. She collapsed in Astrid's arm and Brianna stood watching them.
Brianna turned her attention to Nerezza and kicked her foot, scowling down at her before she spat on her filthy stomach. She just turned with a smile on her face, lifting her bat up like a warrior announcing victory when she noticed Quinn. He had stripped off his top and was holding it to Sam's head, eyes wide, mouth open and unable to speak as he looked up, begging for help with his eyes.
"Oh God," Brianna gasped.
Edilio dropped his pipe and fell down beside of Quinn. "Sam? Sam can you speak? Are you okay?" he asked but Sam could barely move his lips and everything was growing quite dark as he struggled to remain conscious.
"We need Lana!" Taylor sobbed, she was white and had to sit down when he knees couldn't hold her. "We need to find Lana and get her to heal him!"
"No one knows where she is!" Brianna snapped.
"I do. I know!" Taylor was crying and stumbling over her words. "But I can't bounce with someone. I couldn't bring her here. I couldn't. I can't. I... Sam... Sam. He's going to... Going to... To..."
"Taylor! Snap out of it!" Brianna snapped, grabbing her and shaking her much faster than she meant to. Taylor turned and vomited on the dusty ground, clutching her head as it rocked back and forth from her dizziness. "Tell me where she is, I can run there and bring her back. I've dragged her around before and she had healed herself up fine. Tell me where she is and I'll go get her!"
"What?" Taylor blinked. "But. Sam. He's... Now... No time."
"For god's sake, Taylor! TELL ME!" Brianna shouted.
"She's in Pennsylvania. You won't make it. She's too far away." Taylor sobbed. "Oh god, Sam!"
"I'm off!" Brianna shouted, spun on the spot and ran out the cave. She was deaf to the shouts from the others that she wouldn't make it and pushed herself hard and fast, slowing only for a second to steal a chocolate bar from Zil's brother to keep her energy up and going as she moved down the road faster than most the cars around her.
The others stared after her in the cave, Quinn and Edilio still trying to stop the blood flow on Sam's head as he tried to stay away. Caine and Diana had moved to Nerezza to check she was still dead but they had stopped when they heard Sam was in trouble and now stood awkwardly in the middle of the cave, unsure of what else to do. Taylor still sat on the floor, sobbing as Astrid tried to quiet her own tears while holding Pete and rub the younger girl's back in an attempt to calm her.
"Taylor," Caine snapped. "Why don't you do something useful and instead of crying like the biggest baby here, bounce to town and get Nurse Temple to phone an ambulance for Sam? Huh?!"
Astrid was ready to jump to Caine's throat when Diana stepped forward. "You heard him! Get off your fat ass and use that power that could very well save his life if you're so sure Brianna won't make it!"
Taylor blinked and shook her head, she sobbed as she stumbled to her feet and shut her eyes for a moment before she disappeared. Quinn and Edilio were both panting now from fear that they were letting their friend slip from them. Astrid stumbled over to Sam and took his hand. "It'll be okay, Sam. Everything will be okay. They killed Nerezza and I have Petey so you just need to hold on until Taylor or Brianna gets back and then everything will be okay." At some point in the sentence she started crying but there were no tears left and her throat was starting to feel raw but she couldn't help herself.
Diana took Caine's hand and offered him a smile. She was glad that he had decided she was worth being here, especially after she had promised that he could leave Perdido Beach one day with her. She wasn't completely sure she did want to go and spend the rest of her life with him but at the moment there was nothing else that she would rather. It had been luck that they had both ran outside, screaming for help that they ran into Brianna who ran up as many people as she could and brought them all up here. They would have saved Sam if they had come in straight away but neither was willing to take on Nerezza without some back up. Caine wished they had found more people but everyone else was either busy or refused to come up and he didn't really want any help from normals anyway. Freaks or nothing.
"Oh God I don't know what to do!" Quinn shouted suddenly.
Caine looked over to where Sam was still bleeding and scowled. Maybe they should have thought about sending Brianna for Lana before they came here. They should have thought about if something like this happened and while he wasn't falling to his knees trying to stop the blood like Edilio and Quinn, Caine did feel a slight knot in his stomach as his brother lay there on the ground. He really hated Sam and Connie. But they had taken care of him while he was sick and they were his family so even if he didn't want to, he felt a blood pull towards them - or Sam at least.
Time ticked by slowly. Astrid calmed down enough to help with Sam who was still conscious and breathing but he seemed to be in a daze and no longer related to any of their words. Pete was still in a sleep state so she put her away from the fire on the ground for Quinn to watch over since he didn't seem to be doing anything helpful for Sam and was getting more worked up the longer he knelt by his side. After a while Astrid sent him to take Pete outside and home to make sure he was far away from Nerezza's hands. That left Caine and Diana to stand by the wall and watch in silence, unwilling or unable to help themselves but Diana was prepared to run and do anything that Astrid wanted like find water or help bring Lana or the ambulance in.
After a long while the blood was still seeping out but it had definitely slowed yet Sam still wasn't able to move on his own and still seemed ready to fall asleep if Astrid hadn't kept telling him to stay awake, commanding he blink and opened his eyes wide to show her he was listening.
"This is no good, does anyone know how much time has passed since Taylor and Brianna left?" Astrid asked no one in particular.
Everyone looked at once another and Diana just shrugged her shoulders, glancing at the mouth of the cave before looking back at her again. "Can we move him? Like get him out into the open?"
Astrid hesitated. "I think we can. He hasn't damaged anything else so maybe but I'm too afraid to risk it."
"Let's try it." Diana said, walking over to help.
"I can do it." Caine said, sounding bored. He held out a hand and Sam lifted into the air. He understood why Diana wanted out. It wouldn't make much a difference to Sam but she wanted to get out of the cave and she didn't want to seem like a coward ditching Sam.
"Wait his head!" Astrid cried. "We need to keep pressure on his head."
Edilio stood quickly and placed both hands on Sam's head where he was holding Quinn's top in place. "If you move him slowly I can keep up, we can get him outside and maybe find some river or lake nearby that we can use." He explained. Caine nodded and they all walked slowly from the cave, almost in slow motion.
Sam was aware of everything that was happening and felt relieved that they were all getting outside. The cave was dark, dusty and had too many shadows looming over him and making him feel claustrophobic. Outside there would be light, fresh air and he might be able to relax a little and focus more on staying awake than the thought that someone was sneaking up behind him to finish the job.
Of course the idea was easier said than done. It was just as dark going out as it was coming in. Diana ended up helping Astrid who couldn't use one of her legs because of the damage and it felt like she was carrying rather than supporting her. Edilio had to stay beside of Sam to keep the top on his wound and kept a hand against the wall beside of him but he stumbled and his own legs and arms were scraped from entering with the others. Caine had to shuffle one foot forward a few centimeters slowly to feel for any trip ups and then followed with his second foot. If Caine stumbled then he would most likely drop Sam and that was the last thing anyone wanted. Edilio tripped once more twice but never fell off his feet completely and always kept a hand on Sam's head even if it meant grabbing on to the rest of his body - luckily it stayed in the air thanks to Caine.
Diana came impatient at times which caused her and Astrid to fall a lot more times than the others but halfway through she seemed to have learnt her lesson and slowed down slightly, copying Caine by sliding her foot out infront of her rather than picking it up. Astrid noticed how agonising slow it was but she was too focussed on her the agonising pain on her legs to care. One of them was definitely broken, her hands felt hot and her knees had no doubt still bleeding slightly. At this point she didn't care who came back first but she wished Taylor or Brianna would hurry up.
After what felt like hours - all of which including Astrid calling out for Sam to stay awake and Edilio somehow finding the top of his head to feel his eyelashes flickering down to let them know he was - they saw a faint light that meant the outside world! In their haste they all moved faster and nearly everyone on of them tripped almost as soon as they did. Caine used his power to keep him and Sam up and listened, watching faint shapes moving in the dark as Edilio pushed himself back from the wall that he managed to grab onto and reached back for Sam again. Diana and Astrid had sprawled forward and Astrid had to bite on her lower lip to keep from crying out in pain. Diana jumped back to her feet, only slightly bruised, before reaching and dragging Astrid back up again.
Finally they broke out into the open air and each took a breath before turning and setting themselves down out of the way of the cave. Sam was laid back down and Edilio and Astrid immediately were at his side while Caine went over to Diana. As soon as she let go of Astrid Diana wandered over to a spot where she could just distantly see the direction that would lead back to Perdido Beach and Coates.
"You okay?" Caine asked.
"This will never be over, will it?" Diana asked. "Our powers are still here and Nerezza... It won't end."
"Sure it will." Caine said, taking her hand and giving her usual cocky grin. "We've killed off that bitch, Drake'll meet his end eventually and then you I can run off and do whatever you want to do, go where ever you want to go."
"Do you actually mean that?" Diana said, facing him and giving him a challenging stare..
"Yes." He said without hesitation.
Diana hesitated and nodded, like she was considering a maths problem. Then she leaned forward and kissed the corner of his mouth, holding onto his hand before she faced the sun set again. It was still mostly up but it would be night soon. Surely someone would arrive before then?
Astrid counted the time this time. Almost another hour passed before anything happened and while the blood wasn't as bad, Sam still didn't seem to be able to stay awake for much longer. Suddenly Astrid was terrified that he had internal bleeding... What would they do then? She remember Dahra telling her about Bette who stumbled in with only half her face and body working before she finally passed away and there was nothing she could have done to help her! But then she heard a gasp and looked up. It was dust, like someone was kicking at the dirt and sand and instantly they knew that Brianna had made it back.
"Thank God!" Astrid said, tears burning her vision as the girl raced her faster than they had seen her run before - which was saying since they normally couldn't see her when she ran fast.
Brianna took twenty-four minutes exactly to get from the horizon to them. Lana had grabbed a set of skates and had clung onto Brianna's shoulders. She had tripped once more twice but only actually fell over completely once so she quickly healed her broken, bleeding arm and then fell onto her hands and knees, ignoring the scratches and crawling towards Sam. The look on her face was more anger than anything. When she heard Nerezza was involved she refused to come and told the younger girl to just go get a doctor but Brianna had threatened to tell everyone where Lana was and never let her rest unless she came back with her. Astrid couldn't blame her for not wanting to come back but she couldn't blame Brianna either. After all, Sam needed help now and Taylor was still nowhere to be seen!
Lana looked much better apart from the anger on her face. Her tan was clean, her eyes full of life, she had a bit of chubby on her but the healthy kind and she was dressed in a pair of short denim trousers that just passed her knees and a white strapless top. She wore a helmet, knee caps and elbow caps but her skin was still looking sore from the ride and she even had on make up with finely cut styled hair that had a side parting with a side fringe. The only thing that showed any stress were the bags under her eyes that revealed the nightmares still hadn't stopped for her either.
"It's his head!" Edilio said quickly, "He's hurt his head, bad, I'm not sure how much longer he can stay awake."
Lana crawled over. She was shaking but it was hard to tell whether it was from anger or fear. Suddenly Astrid was very thankful they had brought him outside. She wasn't sure Lana would have come in to the cave no matter what threat or promise they gave.
She placed her hand on his head and scowled down at it. Astrid knelt beside her and hoped there wasn't anymore damage that Lana wouldn't be able to heal. If it was just a crack skull and cut then he would be fine but she didn't know if Lana could do anything if his brain was swollen or anything. She held it for a long moment and everyone watched, Astrid and Edilio holding their breaths as they stared down at him.
Then Sam blinked and sat up sharply, Lana's hand knocked away as he took in deep frightened breaths and looked around at the others. For a moment they all stared at him. Then Sam was laughing and Astrid had thrown her arms around his neck, kissing him hard on the lips in front of everyone. Lana rolled her eyes and stood, storming over to Brianna who was cheering and laughing at the same time. She didn't care where Brianna dropped her off but she wanted Brianna to get her as far away from the cave as possible. She had no right to drag her back here. Not when they were back in the real world and had other people to help.
"Where's Pete?" Sam asked when Astrid finally let him go.
Astrid looked up as Brianna dodged passed Lana to stop in front of Sam with a grin. "Relax. The babe's with Quinn. I passed him on the way here, heading back in to town, running and calling for help the whole way. He'll probably be back here with the ambulance." She laughed.
"Brianna!" Lana snapped.
"Yeah okay, I'm coming." Brianna called. "I better go drop Lana back off again. I promise to be back soon so don't damage anymore serious body parts while I'm gone."
"Meet us at my house. We want to be away from this cave as soon as possible." Sam was halfway through that sentence when he heard a scream.
Sam spun on the spot, everyone looking over their shoulders where Diana and Caine had been standing just in front of the mouth of the cave. Diana had fallen back and was half lying on the ground staring up at Caine. And there was Nerezza, standing behind Caine, looking bloody but very much okay with an arm around his throat, pinning Caine with unnatural strength against her body, just about cutting off his air supply and holding one hand firmly against the side of his head.
"I really am getting sick of you." She snarled, looking at all of them, one at a time.
