Chapter 36: Panic Prone
Skye flew the hardest she'd ever flown.
She didn't know where she was going exactly, but she knew where she was headed. It was as if Greg's essence was pulling hers towards him.
She flapped harder.
\xxx/
Greg sat reading the documents over and over, engrossed. Maybe he would find something. He sifted through numbers he saw over and over, memorizing them, grouping them, mixing them around.
If only he could make sense of the encryptions. If only he had paid more attention to the computer-hacking geeks in his school.
"If only, if only, if ONLY!" He hissed in frustration. He dropped the papers onto the ground beside the rock he was sitting on, and put his head in his hands.
He wondered how Skye was doing. He missed her. Missed her smart-ass remarks, and her brilliant smile. He missed how he could be himself around her, and hated her for it.
Because he had been himself—a monster—she was in a coma.
\xxx/
Skye ran through the forest silently, her feet barely touching the ground, her wings pulled in tight so they wouldn't slow her down. She moved too fast for the wildlife to react, all they felt was a breeze as she sped past, for she was invisible to top it all off. She changed course slightly, following Greg's trail.
Skye saw the trees begin to thin, and slowed slightly.
She stopped at the edge of the clearing, catching her breath.
There he was, sitting on a boulder that if was moved left about a foot, would be smack-dab in the middle of the clearing. He was pouring intently over a ream of papers, his brow furrowed in concentration, eyes squinting slightly in the brightness. The wildlife here was quiet, almost non-existent because of his presence.
Which was understandable, considering the fact that he smelled like a wolf.
'A wolf, a predator…dangerous…'
Skye squinted, trying to make out the faint orange numbers above Greg's head.
There were a lot of numbers, which instantly relieved her, and they were ticking by relatively slowly. Skye smiled and slowed her molecules, stepping into the clearing plainly visible. Greg looked up, and she could almost hear his heart stop. Confusion and fear and relief and guilt clouded his eyes.
'I must be hallucinating…' she heard him think. Her mouth twitched at that.
"You're not hallucinating." She assured him.
"What are you doing here? How did you—"
It was then that she heard the almost inaudible click. Greg's head turned right, in the direction from which the sound came. But Skye's eyes were focused on the numbers above Greg's head. They had changed at the sound, and were now rapidly decreasing.
5, 4, 3…
Skye acted without thinking, pushing Greg down as the gunshot sounded. As the pair hit the ground, Skye turned invisible. Before Greg's mind could register what had happened, Skye was off him and flying through the woods.
Almost literally.
She found the attacker within seconds of the first shot. The female Eraser's eye widened as Skye tackled her, reappearing. The gun went flying out of the woman's hand and into the undergrowth.
Skye pinned the Eraser, the picture of fury with her wild blonde hair, fangs, and white pupils. Her teeth were bared as she pushed her thumbs into the Eraser's throat slightly.
"Who put you up to this?" She snarled.
The woman-Eraser was defiantly silent, but her golden eyes betrayed her terror. Skye pressed harder on the Eraser's larynx. The woman gasped for air, eyes bulging.
But before Skye could ask again, the Eraser-woman's arm snaked up and pierced her own throat with a needle that had been hidden in her palm. Skye paused, confused.
The Eraser smiled triumphantly before going limp—dead.
Skye bent close to the needle protruding from the Eraser's neck. A clear liquid coated the implement. Poison.
Skye's nose wrinkled in disgust as she got up, returning to the clearing.
Greg was sitting where she had left him, on the ground by the boulder. The back of his head was bleeding—he had hit a rock when she had pushed him—but was otherwise fine. He looked dazed as he looked her over, his thoughts disbelieving.
"You wing is bleeding."
Skye looked at her snowy appendages. The tip of her right was oozing red. The bullet meant for Greg's heart must have grazed her.
When she looked up again, Greg was only a couple inches away from her.
She hadn't even heard him get up.
He still had that dazed look as he reached for her, tentative. His fingers brushed her jaw line lightly, assuring himself that she was real. Skye's breath caught at the tenderness of his touch. She saw the tears in his eyes only a second before he pulled her towards him, hugging her fiercely. She hugged him with equal force, tears flowing.
She didn't know what she would have done if she had lost him.
A/N: I thought this was a good way to end this chapter, since I won't be writing for a long time. –teartear- this is mostly because of AP Exams! (yay!not). So, I was nice and didn't leave you with a cliffie, I'm saving it for the beginning of the next chapter (so it won't be a cliffie after all…-sigh-) So, I hope you all enjoy this measly scrap of writing, thanks for reading!! 3 R&R please!