Chapter Fifteen; The One.
When everyone was more composed and had taken a seat around Jane's bed, Bran and Will exchanged glances, they had to ask these questions but it wasn't going to be easy. Jane shifted awkwardly in her bed, trying to get comfortable. She knew what was coming next and she was also a bit embarrassed to be seen, by Will, in this very thin nightshirt.
Bran, sensing her curling into herself, burst out with the question.
"What happened in there?" She visibly tensed, "I'm sorry Jenny, but we need to know." She softened slightly at the use of his pet name for her, Will noticed, and he continued on, in a calm voice,
"Do they have the signs?"
"I didn't see them." Her voice was horribly flat. "But I didn't see much. They kept me in a cell most of the time."
"So..."
"No!" Simon cut him off, mid sentence. "Not tonight. We're staying here tonight Jane." He turned to his sister, and took her hand. "Barney and I will be in here, the others just out in the corridor."
"You think they will come back for me." Silence greeted her words. "Don't you?" No one answered, but she saw the answer in the swift looks they gave each other. But she wanted to hear them admit it, to see the words forming on their lips. "Don't you!" Her voice rose in pitch until it was more of a scream.
Will stepped forward, skirting around Simon and took her hand from him.
"We do Jane. And we'll be here to protect you."
"You're not enough. Look what happened last time. I wasn't protected then."
"I've got something for you." He reached into his pocket and drew out a bracelet. It was a beautiful work of art, crafted silver and copper. She took it gingerly from his hands and held it up, close to her face. It sparked, from the inside it seemed, with a soft light. It was plain, except for one part that was broader than the rest. Engraved deep into the metal there was a series of runes and designs. The only one Jane recognised was the mandala, the one of the signs. Although she looked closely, it seemed that each rune and design was only represented once. The bracelet was old, she could feel the weight of the years that this had weathered pressing down on it. But the burden was not oppressive, instead it was comforting, like an old person who told you as a child that everything would be okay, and, with a child's innocence, you believed them with all your heart. While they were there, nothing bad or wrong could happen to you. It was the same sort of feelings she felt around Merriman, and to a degree, Will.
The Old One took it from her unresisting hand and gently clasped it around her wrist, through no mechanism she could see. The band of silver seemed to shift until it fitted her wrist like a second skin. She touched it, and was aware of a gentle heat radiating from it. Jane felt like it was examining her, sending tentacles of itself through her body, testing her to see if she was worthy of wearing it. She had a horrible feeling that she wouldn't like the consequences if it judged her unworthy. But it seemed to settle down, and loose some if its radiance and warmth. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and felt will beside her do the same thing.
She looked up and met his clear eyes and knew he had feared her death as well, not only when she was captured, but now, at the hands of the bracelet.
"Thank you Will."
"This is the One. It will give you some greater protection when you are in great need, what more it does I can't say."
"Can't or wont?" Barney asked shrewdly.
"Can't. The One is unpredictable, but when it had taken to a person it will protect them, with all its strength."
Jane smiled suddenly; she caught Will's hand as he moved away and kept him by her. She wanted him near now, for her protection and for her emotions sake. They were running haywire, she felt like she was about to cry, but instead she smiled. She didn't know what was happening to her, but she knew that Will would never let anything bad happen to her.
'Again.' That horrible voice in the back of her mind added. She quashed it, feeling butterflies rising in her stomach as Will squeezed her hand comfortingly and didn't let go. He moved closer to her and stood by the bed.
"Sleep Jane." His voice was rough, but soft and she felt herself nod, as she did as he commanded. His firm, reassuring hand was the last thing she felt before she slipped into oblivion.