Part 42
Dylan and Rhade had both stopped knowing Harper and Beka were not far behind having decided to wait for them, safety in numbers. But after five minutes, they had started to suspect that something may have happened, and a distant cry for help echoing down the stone streets was the deciding factor that had both Dylan and Rhade turn on their heels and run back to where they had come from, fearing for Beka, having recognised her voice.
Harper was quickly running out of breath but it didn't stop him, as he flat out ran down the empty deserted streets, retracing his steps, whilst hearing the distant joviality of the festa nearby where all the Edenian citizens were gathered. The cry for help from Beka was then bouncing off the stone walls, and Harper pushed himself even further. The collar around his neck felt tighter now, as his pulse raced, pushing his body to move.
He stumbled around a corner, and reached out to steady himself against the stone work of a nearby building, pushing himself to keep going. Harper knew he was close now; he could hear the men and then he heard Beka and she didn't sound as though she was doing well, as echo's of her pained cries surrounded Harper now. He glanced around frantically for a few moments, and then saw an old dusty broom. Without hesitation he grabbed it, and soon discarded the brush, so he was left with the stick to use as a weapon.
He turned the corner, weapon poised when he saw three guys surrounding Beka who already lay beaten on the stone ground, and they continued to kick at her damaged body and yell insults at her. The blood was all Harper saw, and then he watched as the three men became aware of his arrival.
"Another alien," the first man sneered.
"You leave her alone," Harper stressed with defiance, and was thankful to see Beka look up with dazed eyes, but he soon had to look away as one of the three men approached him.
"You are next, don't worry," the man spoke with a drunken smile.
"No, you are," Harper confirmed and he expertly swung the wooden weapon towards the man, and darted out of the way of the man's swinging fist, catching the Edenian cleanly in the lower ribs, taking his breath away. Harper smiled triumphantly at his first strike, and then brought the stick down hard across the man's neck, and watched as the man slumped to the ground.
Harper strode over the fallen man, and approached the other two. "Your turn," he proclaimed now, swinging the stick in a defiant gesture.
The two men looked at each other, and only smiled as Harper prepared his next attack but just as he did, one of the men kicked Beka hard, distracting Harper enough to allow the other man to strike Harper hard across the face, sending him crashing the ground, and letting go of the stick that the man who had struck him quickly claimed.
Harper was dazed for a moment but cleared his head enough to dodge the first swing the guy took with the stick, as Harper rolled back and forth. On the third attempt Harper managed to grab the stick and he pushed upwards, sending the guy off balance, and then Harper kicked the back of the guy's knees whose legs collapsed from under him sending him to the ground to join the first. Harper jumped to his feet, ignoring his own pains, and raised the stick up bringing it sharply down on the guy's chest, rendering him useless so he could concentrate on the final guy, and the one he had personally seen kicking Beka.
Harper's eyes were dark, as he approached with heavy breaths. The third guy had seen his two comrades easily defeated and he now backed away unsure. Harper swung the stick around to intimidate his prey and it seemed to work, but the first guy Harper had downed stirred enough to attempt kick out at Harper, he missed but once again had provided enough of a distraction to give the third guy a chance, and he charged Harper to the ground. A series of drunk blows rained down on Harper, who only managed to deflect a few before he was finally able to kick the third guy where it really hurt, between the legs, once he was able to roll the guy off of him, Harper swung the stick hard at the guys head, knocking him unconscious.
Harper turned to Beka, breathing heavily and nearly exhausted, but the first guy was now on his feet again looking for revenge, and now approached Beka with purpose. Breaking into a sprint Harper grabbed the stick as he ran, and hit the first guy square on the back, and he kept hitting without any control. The man managed to turn around and he pushed Harper away, and they squared off, facing each other with purpose, both breathing heavily and in pain. Harper could feel the blood running down his face, he could taste it but he was way beyond conscious thought now as he homed in on the guy that faced him now.
This guy had hurt Beka, and in Harper's mind more so than the other two and his rage boiled inside to the point of no return, as Harper suddenly went all out attack, hitting the guy repeated, even discarding the stick to pummel the guys face and stomach like a man possessed. The guy tried to fight back, and at times he managed to get a few hits in, sending Harper reeling but Harper was too determined and soon the attacker stumbled under the attack and once down, Harper secured him, by straddling the guy's chest and he didn't stop hitting, even though his knuckles bled.
Harper suddenly felt a strong hand grab his shirt and physically pull him off the first guy, and fearing another of the attackers had got up, Harper twisted with venom and struck out, but the bone blades tore into the back of his shoulder as he twisted, and Harper screamed out, instantly snapping out of his rage and losing all momentum as he slumped in pain, losing consciousness briefly and finally defeated.
"Crap! Dylan!" Rhade yelled seeing Dylan cradling the form of Beka, but suddenly they were not alone as they were joined by what seemed like a hundred Gilads in quick succession, and all were armed.
The Gilads stopped, seeing Rhade and Dylan holding the bloodied bodies of their friends, and then they saw the three fallen men.
"What the hell?" Buz stepped forward, surveying the scene. He then noted the blood dripping from Rhade's bone blades, and the damage they had done to Harper's shoulder, added to the now semi-conscious state Harper was in. He glanced over to Dylan who stood over a very beaten Beka. "I think this is quite a turn up," he stressed.
"Our colleagues were attacked by these three men," Dylan attempted to explain.
"Oh don't give me that, Captain Hunt," Buz mocked. "Your man here has clearly attacked Harper, and we know what he thinks of him, the liability, right?" Buz countered staring at Rhade. "What is this, tidying up affairs, you can't accept that Harper and Beka are now loyal to us?" he stressed.
"It's not like that!" Dylan snapped.
"Take them away from these savages," Buz ordered his men to take Harper and Beka. "I told you once to get out of my sight, and this time I mean it, I see you again and I will have orders placed on you to shoot to kill, understand?"
"You have this wrong, these men were attacking our people," Dylan stated defiantly.
"These men are Kenan supporters, they don't count, the fact you've dealt with them is your only saving grace in this," Buz simply said and turned to leave with the rest of his men.
"This place is twisted beyond twisted," Rhade seethed, and then checked his bone blades still covered in Harper's blood and Dylan was soon by his side.
"I saw what happened," Dylan assured him. "I know it was an accident."
"I under-estimated him, it was my mistake, I never thought the little guy had it in him to do this much damage, and move so quick," Rhade stressed, with anger at his own actions. "We have to get off this rock, and out of this place, you saw Harper and what he has done, that's not right."
Dylan was crouched by one of the fallen men. "Those two will live," he gestured away from where he stood, and then his head fell as he stood by the man Rhade was forced to tear Harper away from. "But this man is dead," he frowned with sorrow.
"Harper is not a killer," Rhade seethed. "This place has done this, not Harper."
Dylan just nodded his head to agree, and then gestured for Rhade to follow him, knowing there was little they could do for the moment, other than keep out of Buz's sight.
Harper soon snapped out of his pained daze and instantly he saw Beka being tended to by carers, as they expertly administered drugs and cleaned up the damage. He glanced around, finding himself in a large room with medical facilities to hand. Without a second thought Harper pushed his way to Beka's side and held her head in his arms as best he could, ignoring his own pains, seeing that she was unconscious and her face was badly beaten. Feeling the tears falling down his cheeks now, Harper didn't care who was looking at him, he was only focused on Beka and his worse fears were being realised.
"Beka, come on, wake up!" Harper pleaded.
"Seamus, we are taking care of her."
"Please Beka," Harper continued, oblivious to those around him, as he started to rock her, desperately wanting something, a sign, anything. "Don't leave me, I can't do this without you, please, I need you, Beka," he stressed with despair.
"You're hurt, and emotional, you should let us tend to you so you can rest."
He heard the voice but he wasn't listening, as he continued to stare at Beka until finally he felt himself being forced away, and he had to be dragged from his friend's side. He shrugged whoever moved had him away, but was aware enough now that he saw the help they were giving Beka, so he quietly sat and watched, not taking his eyes away. His left hand absently moved to his right arm, and clutched the hurting limb that hung limply by his side, covered in his own blood, but he didn't care and he stopped anyone getting too close to have a look at his own injuries, wanting all available medics to tend to Beka.
After a short while he felt himself being forced to move again, and this time they were taking him away from Beka, out of the room, and he protested as much as he could but with his own injuries the struggle was very one sided against Harper. With anger, Harper lashed out and found himself running, suddenly disorientated and not understanding what was happening, he kept running out into the street, round many corners for what seemed a long time until he reached a familiar building and he hurried inside, gasping for breath and exhausted he stumbled to the ground.
"Harper!" Dylan exclaimed, and rushed to his side as he rolled onto his back. "Rhade, get in here! Bring those medical supplies we have!"
Harper was still clutching his right arm, and appeared lost as Dylan tried to assess what was going on. Rhade rushed into the room, and saw the mess that Harper was in. "We don't have the medical supplies for cleaning that mess up," he stressed.
"We'll do what we can," Dylan answered.
"Beka," Harper whimpered emotionally confused.
"Where is Beka?" Rhade was quick to ask.
"She's being looked after," Harper answered, tears falling freely. "She looks so bad, I've never seen her that bad, boss, I don't want to lose her," he stressed looking directly at Dylan.
"It's ok, Harper," Dylan tried to reassure the distraught man. "You said she's being looked after right?"
Harper nodded his head, but was clearly still troubled. "They wouldn't let me stay with her," he added with a sniff, and then appeared to choke on his emotions, as the collar restricted his breathing.
"Just try to calm down, Harper," Dylan warned, seeing how the collar was hindering the younger man, in the state he was in.
"Take some deep breaths," Rhade encouraged.
To their surprise Harper followed their orders and calmly took some needed breaths, and he appeared to relax slightly, as he composed himself. "I can't lose her," he then spoke, threatening to crack up again.
"We need to clean you up," Dylan simply spoke, and he tentatively tried to prise the vice like grip Harper had on his right arm. "Come on, Mr Harper, we really need your co-operation."
Harper appeared unresponsive as he stared ahead, and both Dylan and Rhade exchanged worried frowns, until they became aware of someone at the door and saw Junia stood in the moonlight.
"I thought he'd be here," she partially smiled. "I have brought supplies, I tried to help him, but he ran away, is it ok to come in?" she asked unsure, but saw both Dylan and Rhade gesture for her to come in. "Thanks," she offered.
They watched as Junia effectively began to access Harper's injuries, before she laid out the small box of supplies she had with her.
"How is Beka?" Rhade then spoke up.
"She's responding well to treatment," Junia smiled. "A few broken bones, a few other injuries but all in all she's lucky, she should be ok in a few hours," she added, and saw Harper finally respond to her.
"She'll be ok?" he checked, as if see Junia for the first time.
"Beka is strong," Junia agreed. "It's you I'm worried about, running off like that when you're hurt, and in the state your in."
"Don't worry about me, Beka needs you now, go and help her!" Harper stressed, as he sat up abruptly, and then it appeared that he had no recollection of arriving at the house, as he looked at both Dylan and Rhade quizzically. "How'd I get here, and man, what the hell happened to my shoulder?" he stressed with great pain in his expression as he grimaced.
"What do you remember?" Junia checked and held his face, looking straight into his eyes that seemed unfocused.
"I just wanted to kill those guys attacking Beka," he stated coldly, remembering his rage.
"Well done, job done," Rhade remarked flippantly.
"I killed them?" Harper turned quickly to Rhade with surprise evident in his voice mixed with some fear.
"One of them," Dylan stated without reaction. "The other two still breathed when they were finally taken away by Buz's men."
Harper looked at his hands, and saw the damage he had inflicted on them with the bloodied and swollen knuckles. "I didn't realise, I lost control," he simply said unable to say anymore, as his breathing quickened momentarily.
"Let me check the injury to your shoulder," Junia requested and moved behind Harper, and she began cutting his damaged shirt away to reveal the slashes across the back of his shoulder and she looked at Rhade, somehow knowing how they had got there. "These are deep, possible nerve damage, can you move your arm and fingers?" Junia asked.
Harper concentrated and found he only had limited movement, but it was unclear if it was through pain or actual damage, but he couldn't flex his fingers. Junia moved back in front of him and she took his right hand in her own, to access what he might have done.
"It might be a few days before we know for sure," Junia offered, carefully feeling along the damaged hand, and finding the fingers were moving but Harper was showing no reaction when she expected pain of some kind to register. "Nanobots might be able to help the process," she suggested and injected some into both hands, seeing equal damage to both, before administering some to his right shoulder. "I'll clean you up now, and we'll check on progress in the morning," she smiled softly.
Harper looked exhausted now, as he let Junia begin to gently clean his wounds to his face and body. Rhade and Dylan soon excused themselves to give Junia some space, and Harper relished the chance to find comfort from the girl who was caring for him. As she cleaned a cut on his face with care, he stared into her eyes and saw her blush.
"You need to get better," Junia smiled. "So cut that out."
"What?" Harper returned almost playfully, as Junia turned her attention to his cut lip, as she gently cleaned the blood away.
"Behave," Junia returned, as she concentrated on her work. "You're delirious and I have no plans of taking advantage," she added.
"Didn't stop you before," Harper teased.
"Don't remind me of that," Junia answered with seriousness, and she moved away from his face and checked his shoulder was healing, before using what she had to seal the deep gashes, and then applying the bandage.
Every touch that Junia made in her care was being felt by Harper, as he lost himself to her attentions as a distraction to his concern for Beka. Junia had eased some of the greater concerns, and now she was allowing him to escape further from his fears, as she gently applied some gel to his bruises that still covered his back.
"Lie down now," Junia suggested, and Harper had to bite his tongue from making a fresh remark, as he settled back and found that Junia had gathered up some of the blankets to make him comfortable.
Once again she took his right hand into her own, as she inspected the damage, and Harper could only stare at her as she did so.
"Why did you do this to yourself?" Junia then asked with care, whilst finding some tape to bind two fingers together that she suspected, by the bruising evident, were damaged.
"They were hurting Beka," Harper simply answered without reaction.
"They could have killed you."
"Many have tried and all have failed, they didn't scare me," he answered truthfully.
"I'm glad I've been made aware of this mad streak you have," Junia then smiled.
"Does it bother you?" Harper asked with a smile.
"Only that I'm going to have to ensure that the medicine cabinet is always fully stocked," she teased, and then smiled. "What you did, for Beka, just makes me like you even more, you realise this?" she smiled.
Harper didn't know how to initially respond, and even showed signs of a blush as he finally made eye contact with Junia again. "I would die for Beka," he simply said, before tiredness really started to tug at his consciousness. "But do you like me enough now to simply help me, or still prefer to play games?" he then asked coldly.
Junia seemed a little unnerved by his original confession but his following question hit her harder, as she got to her feet. "You should rest now," she spoke abruptly. "I will return in the morning to see how you're doing," she added before moving to the door and Harper was already asleep by the time she entered the back room.
"Keep an eye on him, and be aware of what's going on around you," Junia immediately warned on seeing Rhade and Dylan. "Trouble is afoot, and there are reports of isolated violence, all stemming from Kenan's followers who are using the festival as a cover."
"What's going on?" Dylan asked with concern.
"Tensions are high, and have been for the past couple of days between the powers in Edenia, we suspect they have reached boiling point and I don't think things are going to be peaceful around here for a while," Junia frowned. "Stay safe," she stated, before turning to leave.
Rhade and Dylan glanced at each other, before moving back into the front room to check on Harper, unsure of developments around them and being in the unusual position of not being in the know.
TBC