Where the Sidewalk Ends
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Kristen, my very own, customize as you wish character.
Chapter Sixteen: A Single Tear
((Thanks for all the reviews. Here's the next one. Sorry it took so long))
Numb. Silent except for the drips of her blood. She couldn't even feel her own heart beating anymore. The ruby and emerald encrusted dagger was still sticking into her stomach, the shiny silver now glistening with her red blood. Her eyes started to droop and she began to loose control over her limbs. Her consciousness was dwindling as well. She knew what would happen if she lost all sense of her surroundings. She would leave this place forever. And she wasn't ready to give up quite just yet.
Amidst the numbness, she began to struggle again against the ropes that constricted her arms. A twist here. A turn there. Her body was wrangling against the scratchy force and just as she was about to give up, they broke free and she fell to the ground. Of course, she just had to fall face forward and the dagger lengthened its wound into her stomach, the edge of the blade only breaking the skin on her back. It had gone all the way through her. Stumbling, she pressed her palms on the cobblestone floor and while staying on her knees, tore the sharp knife out of her torso with a heart-wrenching, blood-curdling scream of pain. She had been completely oblivious to any pain except for the removal of the dagger. Her breathing was heavy and she felt her heart starting to slow. Time was running out. As fast as she could, her stomach oozing blood onto the floor and the rest of her body, she made her way on hands and knees over to the faintly outlined door which Baldur had entered and exited through. She clawed up it, pulling her upper body to the handle where she rested and continued to breath heavily. She pulled the wrought-iron handle. It didn't move. She pulled it again, harder. Once again, it didn't budge. She pulled once more, harder and with more fury, and the door swung open, flinging her back, landing on her spine and head. A cool wind washed over her as she raised her head ever so slightly and looked out. She felt relieved at the sight.
A forest stood outside of the doorway, waiting for her to enter its piney midst. The fall of the impact barely fazed her, her body already at its capacity for pain. She crawled slowly out the door way, her head beginning to spin as her palms and knees hit the soft, mossy ground of the wilderness. She crept forward, her breathing turning into wheezing. It was getting harder and harder to breath and finally, when she was 20 feet away from the room in which she had been held captive, she latched herself onto a tree and pulled herself to her feet, careful to keep herself silent. She carefully looked back at the small, stone encased room. By the silence of the forest, no one had seen her escape. But if someone were to check on her later, they would be able to follow her from the bloody trail she had left. Her red, shining blood stood marked against the brown forest floor. The bark on the tree was no longer ridged, smooth and senseless. Her eyes began to feed her double vision. Her tongue was swelling. Her ears were growing tingly and soundless. Her bare feet didn't even register that she was standing on a pile of prickly leaves. Things were growing desperate. She knew she had minutes if not seconds left and she had to get as far away from Baldur as possible. She pushed herself off the now blood stained tree and stumbled across the wilderness and away from the stone room, her feet waddling from step to step without a sense of what was underneath her. Step. Step. Step. Her feet lead her away and slowly, she began to diminish. She stumbled on a root that was sticking up but continued forward. She's walk from tree to tree and try and steady herself, the white bark of the trees now marked plainly by her blood. She blinked her eyes and saw a faint white light. She knew what that meant. She heard a familiar voice, but it was muffled and almost a bare whisper. She saw the foggy outline of a majestic looking person standing infront of her. He walked towards her cautiously, but as she got into his sight range he went over to her to hug her, but stopped at the sight of her blood and wounds. Yet still, she stumbled into his arms, feeling his strong arms wrapped around her. Blink. The white light was growing closer. Her breathing got slow and she felt her heart slowing its beat. She tried to speak, but her voice scratched and made no sound. Yet she managed to get out one last word before letting the white light consume her.
"Peter" she silently croaked into the man's ear. Her eyes rolled back and she tumbled into a world of darkness. Her grip weakened on the man and she fell down in weakness.
The newest Queen of Narnia had finally fallen.
He had been sitting with his siblings, in the middle of a silent lunch before he'd been almost teleported out of his seat and plunked down smack dab in the middle of a forest. He looked around cautiously, some movement to his right catching his eyes. What he saw next, he never expected.
She came stumbling out of the branches and towards him, her balance completely off as she took awkward steps. He ran to her at first instinct, but halted his feet at the sight of her blood. She was scarcely dress, her body almost completely covered with blood. Then he saw the huge, red wound on her stomach and felt his heart drop to his stomach. She continued towards him and when she hugged him, he hugged her back cautiously, but eager to get her some medical attention. He didn't want to loose her again. He heard her croak his name into his ear and he smiled a small smile to himself. But then she collapsed, her head lolling back as his arms remained tight around her. He checked immediately for her pulse. Nothing. He felt his heart sink even deeper into his stomach as he watched her exhale, but not inhale.
He felt one single, drop of salty water fall from his eye as he looked at her frail and now dead body in his arms. He'd been too late. He'd been such a jerk and refused to come after her when she ran away. Her death was nothing but his fault. Slowly, his tear fell off his chin and dropped onto her cold, gray face and just like he had landed, he was teleported back to the lunch room and plunked down onto the marble floor, Kristen still in his arms. His sister's shrieks rang out and the sound of chairs scrapping a stone floor echoed off the walls. He saw his family crowd around him and in a flash of time, he finally regain his sense of time 3 hours later while sitting outside Kristen's bedroom with his 3 siblings waiting emotionlessly by his side. He blinked his eyes and then got up and stormed into the room in silence. Despite his sister's warnings, he threw the bedroom doors open and ran to her sleeping body on the bed. She didn't look cold anymore. Her face had regained its color and she looked remotely human again. 3 men and a nurse looking women were crowded around the sleeping girl on the bed and at the sight of the Pevensies; they all smiled and nodded reassuringly. There was a collective sigh let out and they all made their way cautiously over to the sleeping Queen and sat down, determined to wait with her till she woke up. It was the family thing to do.
And she was more then family to them,
((Author's Note: Took long enough, eh! I'm so sorry for the wait. School's been hectic ad HECK and its been writers block time for me. REVIEW IT if I haven't lost all my readers ))