Chapter twelve

Pain's a bitch part one

Shadow was laying in his bed and had the most terrible night of his entire life. He was having back pains and they started in the very early hours of the morning, four days ago. They were mild at first and was bearable but now they were getting worse. He kept groaning in discomfort every time he moved, even the slightest movement sent pain coursing through his back. He knew he should have been up and about over half an hour ago but he just couldn't bring himself to leave the bed.

"This is so horrible, worse than getting shot and I can say that for I know what it feels like to have a bullet go through flesh and hit the bone." Shadow thought as he hissed through clenched teeth with tightly shut eyes as another shot of pain travelled down and all around his back.

Ten minutes later there was a knock on his bedroom door then his fathers voice hit his ears, asking if he was up yet. Shadow groaned as he forced himself out of bed to open his bedroom door. He got as far as the middle of the space between his bed and bedroom door when he collapsed to his hands and knees, crying out in pain with tightly shut eyes. Collin quickly burst through the door and gasped at seeing his son on the floor with a pained expression, tears in the corners of Shadows shut eyes and getting bigger. Shadow shook a little from the amount of pain he was feeling and didn't notice when his father rushed down to the floor beside him.

"Shadow what is it, what's wrong?" Collin asked with a panicked voice, putting a hand on Shadows upper back.

Shadow hissed when he felt the pressure of that hand on his back and opened one eye to look over at his father.

"D-dad…it hurts, remove y-your hand pl-please." Shadow shakily said as he breathed irregular intakes of air.

Collin at first didn't clock what was going on until Shadow cried out in agony again when he unintentionally put more pressure on Shadows back.

"D-dad!" Shadow growled as he half glared up at his father with glowing red eyes.

"I'm sorry son. Try and breath evenly and remain calm ok. I do believe you are getting your wings. A bit early thought, they don't usually start to develop until the age of eighteen, not fourteen and a half." Collin softly said as he did remove his hand and tried to help Shadow to stand.

With slow shaky movements, along with gripping tightly onto his father, Shadow managed to stand but not up straight. Collin slowly guided Shadow to his bed and carefully sat him down on the edge. He sat next to his son and frowned as he realised Shadow was in far too much pain for it to have just started.

"Shadow when did the pain start?" Collin asked as he watched Shadow tense up a little, from pain or from his question Collin wasn't all too sure.

"E-early hours of the m-morning…four days a-ago." Shadow said as he tried to fight against the pain, gripping the edge of the bed and leaning forwards a little.

"Why didn't you say something Shadow, we could have given you pain relief?" Collin sighed as he shook his head at what his son had just confessed.

"Y-you know how I feel about n-needles and be-besides it was man-manageable." Shadow chuckled playfully as he replied, turning his head and gave his father a small smile but his eyes displayed so much pain in them as they glowed a brighter red.

"Hate them or not Shadow, you need pain relief. The pain is only going to get more severe from here until your wings break through, growing as they form their shape out of your back. I'm not going to lie but it will be messy and you are going to feel weak when it is all done with. In fact you will fall unconscious from the amount of pain it will cause your body and mind when the process is near the end." Collin firmly said as he stood up and turned to face his son.

"H-had a feeling you were going to, to say that." Shadow grinned up at his father and made a move to stand.

"No Shadow, I will have Rachael come to you. I do not want you to move until the pain is manageable once more." Collin said as he gently placed his hands on Shadows shoulders and guided him back down with care.

Shadow sighed with a nod then closed his eyes tightly and hissed as more pain rose up and pulsating all over. Collin rushed out and ran to the medic room, hoping Rachael was there now as it was still only eight o'clock in the morning. She was the one that had the keys to the locked medicine cupboard so hope was at its high. Collin rushed inside and sighed with relief as his eyes landed on Rachael leaning against a bed with a folder open in her hands.

"Rachael my dear I need pain relief for Shadow, he is having back pains and has done for four days now. He is in a lot of pain and can barely walk or stand without keeling over." Collin spoke in a forced calm voice as he was worried and a little confused as to why his son was going through all of this so early in his age.

"Right of course, I'm on it." Rachael replied as she put the folder on the bed then went over to the locked cupboard, getting the keys out of her pocket.

Back with Shadow, he was breathing deeply and shaking a little as the pain began to get a little worse. He was trying not to think about it but it was very hard when it was constant. His eyes were turning black with a glow to them and his darkness was starting to surface as the mental stress of his pain took effect. Dark, smoke like, shadow creatures appeared and zipped around the room in the air, occasionally scraping against the wall and leaving scorch marks from the electricity coming off of them.

"J-just a few more days of this and, and it will all be over with." Shadow whispered through clenched teeth as he glared at the floor in front of him with a pained expression in his glowing black eyes of darkness.

Due to glaring at that one spot for far too long and having his darkness active right now, the floor where his eyes laid began to crack and separate a little. Shadow groaned and closed his eyes to stop it from getting worse.

"I guess I can make looks kill." Shadow thought as he growled and gripped harder on the edge of his bed, claws digging into the sheets and penetrating into the mattress.

Suddenly one of his dark shadows swooped down and hit his back, making him cry out in agony, eyes shooting open and looking back to that cracked spot on his bedroom floor. Another one did the same and hit the same spot on Shadows back.

"Ahhh god damn this, will you damn well stop attacking me!" Shadow cried out with rage, his voice echoing throughout his room and could be heard in the corridor out side.

The creatures doubled in number as Shadow became more enraged as another smashed itself into his back. That hit made Shadow fall forwards to the floor onto his hands and knees above that crack he made with his staring. Shadow shut his eyes and cried out in frustration as it seemed to him his gift was fighting against him instead of for him.

"STOP THIS PLEASE!" Shadow screamed out as his back was throbbing from the inner and outer pains, getting hit with a more harder attack that was accompanied by an electric shock.

Shadow gasped and opened his eyes wide when it happened again and the shock was a little more intense. Shadow was left unable to move as he tried to process what was happening to him. Those shocks should now be seriously hurting him but instead they were starting to sooth his back pain, helping him to cope better with it.

"What is going on? I thought electricity is supposed to really, really hurt not be so soothing. Is my gift just trying to stop my pain or am I just getting used to the feeling?" Shadow thought as he was electrocuted again by his creatures of darkness, feeling nothing but a numb sensation throughout his back now.

Collin and Rachael ran down the corridor towards Shadows room, a syringe with pain medicine inside in Rachael's hand. They stopped outside Shadows door and Collin quickly opened it. They both walked in and gasped at what they were seeing. Shadows darkness was flying around the room and attacking Shadows back with electrical shocks. What surprised them more was the faint relieving smile on Shadows muzzle and half lidded eyes that looked calm and content, the only thing suggesting they weren't was the glow of black emitting from Shadows usually red iris'.

"Shadow?" Collin half whispered as he stared down at his son from near the door.

"I can barely feel any pain now." Shadow whispered as his eyes were slowly changing back and the shadow creatures were slowly disappearing as their job was almost finished with.

The very last three shot down at Shadow and hit him one by one then fizzed away. Shadow was now breathing evenly and he was no longer shaking from pain. He slowly moved to sit on the floor and lent up against the bed with tired features. There was only a very small amount of pain being felt but very easy for Shadow to ignore and cope with.

"It seems like you have your own way to kill pain but I still need to give you this." Rachael grinned at her future ruler and walked over to Shadow then kneeled down beside him.

"Yeah would have been nice to be informed of that but it is not like they can talk to me. I figured out what was happening half way through." Shadow whispered with a light laugh as he was just feeling so relieved with no major pain being felt for the first time in four days.

Rachael gave Shadow a soft smile then gently took a hold of his arm so she could inject the pain relief into his vein. Shadow hissed a little and looked away as he did not want to see what was happening. He never liked injections and probable never will.

"There you go, it will take a few minutes to kick in but it will last for five hours before needing another one. I suggest come see me in the medic room in four and a half hours so we can top you up before the pain starts up again." Rachael informed her future ruler then stood up onto her feet, capping the used needle.

"Thank you Rachael and I will, I do not want to be in that much pain again." Shadow calmly said with a faint relieved smile up at her.

"Yes thank you Rachael and I will make sure he does. Now Shadow I suggest you get some rest and I will inform your tutor you wont be in class today." Collin announced in a semi firm tone to his son then after walked out of his sons room with Rachael, closing the door up and leaving a small gap.

Shadow hoists himself up onto his feet, turns to face his bed then collapses onto his bed face down with a heavy sigh as he began to feel a little drained. After getting comfortable, which took effort as he was getting very sleepy, Shadow soon closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Some time later…

"Shadow, wakey-wakey sleepyhead." A soft voice hit Shadows ears making him lightly moan and slowly open his eyes, only to see his mother bent towards him with a warm smile.

"Huh? What time is it?" Shadow whispered with a slightly confused look in his half lidded eyes, his mind still a little cloudy with sleep.

"It's almost twelve o'clock sweetie and you need to get up now. Just take your time and do not do any sudden movements." Emily said as she straightened up and took a step away from the bed.

"So not cool, I'm tired. Cant I have like a couple more hours?" Shadow groaned as he gave his mother a pleading sad expression.

"You have already skipped breakfast and I will not have you skipping lunch too. Now get up please or I will make you get up." Emily said with a firm look.

Shadow sighed then threw the covers off him as he began to sit up. He shuffled to the edge and stood up with a small frown. Emily smiles in satisfaction then walked out to leave her son to get washed and dressed for the day. Shadow mumbled unhappily about being too tired to eat right now as he slowly walked into his bathroom to take a shower. It was almost an hour later that Shadow dragged himself out of his bedroom, still feeling drained and sleepy as he wondered down the corridor towards the medical room only wearing jogging bottoms for clothing with his slipper boots on his feet.

"Either this is a side effect to the pain medicine or all this really is making me weaker. I don't ever think I have felt this tired in my life." Shadow thought as he yarned while turning a corner.

"There you are, I have been waiting for you for fifteen minutes." Rachael said as she had decided to see if Shadow was up.

"I'm doing fine thanks for asking." Shadow muttered dryly while he stopped walking as Rachael had stopped right in his path.

"You don't look fine, you kind of look tired. That is understandable though, I doubt it you have had the best of sleep lately. Come on then lets get this over with so you can go get some lunch." Rachael sighed then led the way to the medic room.

Went Shadow had his next dose, which he wasn't all to please about having and complained upon how much it was pointless since he wasn't in any pain, he left the medic room and slowly wondered towards the dining room.

"I just want to go back to bed and sleep." Shadow thought as he rubbed his eyes, almost at his destination.

"Young man you are so lucky you walked in when you did, I was a minute away from getting up and dragging you here." Emily said as she watched her son slowly walk inside the dining room with tired sluggish movements.

"You did say I should take my time so I did." Shadow casually replied while he pulled out his chair then sat down, pushing himself in.

"He has you there my love." Collin chuckled lightly at his wife's displeasing expression.

"Did you go see Rachael?" Emily asked as she looked at her son opposite her with a serious expression.

"Yes and now my arm aches." Shadow mumbled as he looked down with a deep frown while trying hard to keep his eyes open.

"What is wrong with me, I've never had to try this hard to stay awake. Even staying awake for over twenty four hours has never made struggle like this." Shadow thought as he was getting very confused and a little frustrated with how he was feeling.

He did not like the feeling and wanted it gone.

"I spoke to your tutor and he said for you to just go through pages twelve through twenty-seven in your history book then answer the first five questions on page twenty-eight." Collin said with a cheerful tone as he looked over at Shadow beside him.

"Right sure so no going back to sleep this afternoon then?" Shadow sighed as he was hoping he could just go back to bed after lunch for another few hours maybe even until the next day.

"No you are going to do your school work and I want you doing that in the library. I suggest you have an early night so you are nice and refreshed for the morning." Emily said with a semi firm look and tone at Shadow.

Shadow just groaned and dropped his head a little hard onto the table.

"I am tired, I need sleep." Shadow whined as he was so close to losing his inner battle to not fall asleep but knew if he did then he was going to be in big trouble from his mother, with that thought in his head it gave him some extra willpower.

"Shadow stop complaining and lift your head off the table." Emily seriously said as she was getting a little annoyed with her sons childish behaviour, regardless of his age he was acting like a small child in her eyes right now.

"Emily my sweet maybe we should allow him to have a couple of hours after lunch." Collin softly said as he sympathised with his son, knowing how Shadow was feeling for he had gone through the exact same thing but he was much older and able to cope better.

"And have him fall behind on his school work?" Emily said with some surprise at her husbands suggestion.

Shadow by now had lost the battle and had fallen asleep as his parents had this little discussion. They of course did not notice as of yet.

"I am just saying he does look very tired my love and I can sympathise. I know how he is feeling and being so young during this time can't be easy, in truth he shouldn't be going through this for at least another four years. Coping through all this pain and tiredness must be very draining for him." Collin softly said as he gave his wife a warm smile.

"Huh alright you win, I just do not want Shadow to fall behind on his school schedule and work." Emily sighed out in defeat then turned her head to look at Shadow.

"Ok Shadow after lunch you can go have a couple of hours rest, in the lounge and not in your bed." Emily said with a smile then after having no response it disappeared, turning into a small frown.

"Shadow?" Collin called out then reached out to give his son a little shake.

Shadow mumbled in his sleep then settled back down again.

"He's asleep isn't he?" Emily sighed with a despairing shake of her head.

"That he is, I'll go put him in the lounge and lay him on the sofa." Collin lightly chuckled as he began to stand up.

Three hours later.

Shadow suddenly gasped awake when a loud bang was heard. He shot up with wide panicked eyes.

"Well that worked better than I thought it would have." Collin said with amusement while looking at his son with arms crossed.

"What? What was that bang?" Shadow said as he calmed himself down and looked up at his very amused looking father.

"That was the sound of history." Collin chuckled as he uncrossed his arms and pointed at the book he dropped from a small height onto the coffee table.

Shadow followed his fathers finger then drooped his ears with a moan of displeasure.

"Remember you need to read pages twelve through twenty-seven then answer the first five questions on page twenty-eight. I will be checking in on you regularly to make sure you are still awake my son and before I go off to type up my report, are you hungry?" Collin said with a smirk at his son.

"This is just torture you know that right?" Shadow complained as he moved to the edge of the sofa and picked up his history book.

"And I could do with a caffeinated drink actually or am I too young for that still." Shadow casually said as he got comfortable on the sofa then opened up his book to start reading.

"I will allow it just this once so do not tell your mother ok. I will be back with your drink, enjoy the read wont you." Collin said with a grin then walked out of the lounge.

"What, you think I will enjoy reading about some war that happened like nine centuries ago between our kind and demons? Yeah right I rather watch a Fangdroom bloom and they take three days to flower fully." Shadow complained under his breath as he frowned at the first page of the long chapter he had to read in his history book.

"I do not like fighting so why would I enjoy reading about one?" Shadow thought as he took in a deep breath then got reading with very little interest in this subject.

"I'll just skim through as fast as I can and answer those questions in fact what are those questions?" Shadow thought then turned to page twenty-eight to find out.

"Question one, when did war break out, over what reason and who was to blame for it? Write in your own words a nine hundred plus word explanation for this question to show your understanding." Shadow mumbled the first question.

"They don't ask for much do they." Shadow dryly muttered as he decided to just read the damn pages then hopefully get the first question finished before he had to go for another pain relief jab.

"Or I can just skip my next one and simply say I lost track of time. I doubt it I will feel that much pain again since I don't feel a thing right now. I am sure I'll have an extra hour before my back starts up again." Shadow thought as he turned back to the start of the chapter to get this reading over with.

"Here you are Shadow and remember do not tell your mother." Collin announced his return and holding a large mug of hot caffeinated blood for Shadow, placing it onto the coffee table.

"Thanks dad and I wont utter a single word to mum, she will have both our heads." Shadow said with an amused smirk up at his father.

"I will come check on you in a little while ok, enjoy your torture wont you." Collin said with a chuckle at the end of his words then left his son to do his work in peace.

"Yeah thanks dad." Shadow mumbled under his breath then once again tried to become interested enough to get through this part of his history lesson.

When he finally finished reading over an hour had passed. He probably would have finished sooner if he didn't keep stopping to have some of his drink, it now finished with and had been for half an hour, and getting his phone out to text Fay. Shadow once again put his phone back in his pocket then looked at the first question again.

"Oh yeah I am supposed to do this big report, essay thing…would it be quicker to go to the library and type it up or just write it down on paper?" Shadow muttered after reading the first question in his head.

"I'll go to the library and type it up on the computer." Shadow casually said to himself then stood up, taking his history book with him to the library.

On the way his phone vibrated so he quickly got it out and opened the message, reading it in his head.

"Oh so now you have boring history too." Shadow thought as he finished reading then began to reply.

"Yeah I but I bet you are having a better history lesson than I am." Shadow text that message back then placed his phone into his pocket.

When he reached the library he rushed over to the computers and sat in front of one, switching it on after getting comfortable.

"Now computer you will not just randomly crash on me and if you do at least wait for me to save my work first." Shadow warned as he narrowed his eyes at the screen loading up.

His phone buzzed again so he got it out and read the message from Fay.

"Aw no fair she is learning about my family history this term where I am stuck with some boring war that probably could all have been avoided if they all just sat down and talked it out like grown-ups." Shadow complained with a deep frown then soon began to smirk as he started to text back.

"Hey if you ever get stuck then come over and I will tell you everything so you can get extra credit." Shadow text back then sent the message with a wink at the end.

His phone buzzed just as he was about to put it away. He opened the message from Fay up and smirked as it was thumbs up and a wink back.

"I am so going to help her get that A grade plus extra credit." Shadow whispered with a chuckle as he finally put his phone away and began to get the word processor document up to make a start.

An hour later…

"Alright Shadow how are…oh now where has he disappeared to?" Collin cheerfully announced as he walked into the lounge then groaned as he saw it was empty.

Collin sighed then left to go check Shadows bedroom, thinking he might have gone there to get a pen and note pad to answer those questions. On the way he bumped into Rachael and she was not looking happy.

"My Lord do you know where you son is? He was supposed to come to the medical room forty minutes ago for another dose of pain relief. I've only just noticed the time as I was busy with a stock take." Rachael asked with a deep frown.

"He was supposed to be in the lounge doing his school work, I am actually on my way to his bedroom to check if he is in there doing it instead." Collin answered and was now frowned in displeasure that his son had missed a dose.

"Ok please, when you find him, can you send him my way. I have everything ready and I will be waiting for him in the medic room. Thank you." Rachael requested then walked back to the medical room to wait for the prince.

"Shadow you cannot afford to keep being late for your pain medicine." Collin muttered as he walked a little faster towards his sons bedroom.

Back in the library…

"Copy paste here, copy paste there…they will never know especially since I'm adding my own wording in there too." Shadow muttered to himself as he used the internet to basically cheat on this essay.

He did try to get interested in this enough to do the work himself but was finding it a little too hard to do this question. So Shadow researched this up on the internet, found a great few articles and well copied and pasted what he needed from each one.

"There all done, just need to change this into that…oh and reverse this a little…Now to print, save and move onto the next question." Shadow said as he exited the internet then worked fast to make it look his own.

Shadow sent the work over to the printer then sat back with a grin, happy with saving himself about another hour on this one question. He kept the computer on as he read the next question in his history book, grabbing the book that rested beside the keyboard and opening it back up to page twenty eight.

"Ok question two…What was the effects this war had on civilians in both realms?" Shadow muttered as he read.

"Well I don't know, erm…not feeling safe and dying? Yeah I'll put that down." Shadow said with a grin as he got up to get his print job and a piece of paper from the printer then sat back down to write that on the plain sheet.

"Damn need a pen…er…Oh yeah I have some in my desk draw." Shadow cursed then looked around to see no writing equipment, remembering he had plenty in his room.

Shadow got up, put his book and paper down on his chair then ran out of the library fast to his bedroom. He took the quickest root and in doing so never bumped into his father who had just come from his bedroom. Collin, after seeing Shadow wasn't in his room, decided to check the only place he could think of where his son could be possibly doing his school work. To him the library was the best bet since they did have other historical books and computers with internet access.

"I should think about getting him a laptop for his birthday so he doesn't have to go to the library every time he needs to use the computer." Collin thought as he neared his desired location.

When Collin walked into the library he looked around and frowned.

"SHADOW, YOU IN HERE!" Collin called out thinking that maybe his son could be on one of the upper levels.

Not getting an answer after a minute of waiting he sighed and went over to the computers and took a seat where he knew Shadow was working on. It was obvious for the screen was on, the chair was out and it had Shadows history book resting on it with papers on top of that.

"I'm sure he wont be all that long and probably left to use the bathroom or something." Collin whispered to himself as he got comfortable and swirled the chair so he was facing the library entrance.

Shadow was now in his room rummaging through his desk draw with suddenly a shooting pain travelled along his spin and around his shoulder area. He hissed and shut his eyes tightly, finding he couldn't move without more pain happening.

"O-ok maybe I-I should have gone t-to see Rachael." Shadow muttered as he tried to move but it got worse with every movement he made.

"What do I do now?" Shadow thought and took a moment to think how he could get to the medical room for that pain relief.

"I'll text dad." Shadow thought then slowly reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone, pain shooting his back with ever move he made to get his phone.

"D-damn this is worse than b-before." Shadow said as he shakily began to text his father.

It took longer than it normally should but he did it, he sent the message then dropped his phone on the floor and gripped onto the edge of his desk.

"Hurry up dad." Shadow thought as he fought against the pain with his eyes shut tight and teeth clenched down hard on each other.

Collin was getting a little impatient and was about to go on the hunt again when he felt his phone vibrate. By this time he has been in the library for almost fifteen minutes. He got his phone out and raised a brow in wonder to why Shadow was texting him.

"Help me please, I need help…help him with what, his school work, finding something?" Collin muttered as he read the text with a confused frown.

"Where are you?" Collin said the words he was texting then sent the message.

Back in Shadows room…

Shadow heard his phone vibrate on the hard tiled floor and saw it flash in the corner of his eye as he received a message. He cursed under his breath as he very slowly moved down towards the floor and reached out to it. He only managed to brush his finger tips on the phone when he suddenly froze and keeled over onto the floor on his back, making it feel ten times worse.

"M-must get, get phone." Shadow whispered out breathlessly as he pushed himself to move to lay on his belly.

Shadow screamed out as he felt painful movements on his back near his shoulder blades as he tried to reach for his phone. He was beginning to feel dizzy and light-headed but pushed through that and managed to drag his phone towards him to get it better. He kept out stretched as he unlocked his phone and opened up the message.

"Ahhh damn this, damn you all!" Shadow shouted as he rode the pain with a shaky hopd on his phone.

He waited until it wasn't at its peak then after a couple of minutes he managed to read the message.

"Dad where do you think I am? I am in my bedroom!" Shadow shakily ready the words as he typed very slowly.

Shadow pressed send then dropped his phone and laid there in pure agony. He was breathing laboured breaths, his head spinning and he felt like his back was about to rip open in a blooded mess of flesh and muscle.

"Hurry up dad." Shadow thought as he rested his forehead on the floor and shut his eyes tight, gritting his teeth as he hissed sharply from the starts of another strong pain about to get stronger.

Collin read the text with a frown as he had come from there and Shadow was no where to be found. He put his phone away then got up and walked out of the library. As Collin turned a corner he almost bumped into his wife. They both stopped in front of each other and smiled.

"Collin dear, I have a favour to ask of you." Emily sweetly said with a soft innocent look.

Shadow was deeply breathing and struggling a lot with the pain. He also wondered why his darkness hadn't showed up like last time for he need relief now. Hs eyes had changed to black but not sign of his dark gift surfacing.

"Please, anyone…help me." Shadow groaned out with pain in his voice as he moved his head to look at his closed bedroom door, laying it down on the floor flat.

He shut his eyes tightly once again and screamed as he felt his back tear a little then he felt his blood trickle down his side. He gasped and opened his eyes when he heard voices in the hallway going passed his bedroom door.

"H-help me." Shadow tried to call out but his voice was raw from screaming and it came out far too quiet.

"N-no please don't…don't go." Shadow whispered as tears filled his eyes.

He began to sob a little as he started to feel scared and alone. His father should have been here by now to help him but alas he was alone in this situation. Shadow inhaled a deep unsteady breath as he felt his back tear a little more in two places now and that felt agonisingly unbearable right to him.

Collin smiled softly at his wife.

"Of course my love, I cannot allow your beautiful quills and fur to become an unbearable sight for you. You go and do what you must tomorrow morning and I will excuse you from the meeting after breakfast." Collin softly said as he took a step forward and wrapped his arms around his wife's waist then brought her close, resting his forehead on hers.

"You are such a sweetheart dear and I think tonight I will show you just how much I appreciate and love you." Emily whispered in a semi seductive tone then brought her arms up and wrapped them around her husbands neck.

Collin chuckled as he liked the sound of that while lifting his forehead from Emily's. He then connected his lips with Emily's and they shared a passionate kiss in the corridor, not caring of who might see or what was going on around them.

Back with Shadow he could barely keep his eyes open as his head was screaming to leave the waking world and take a break from consciousness. He could no longer cry out as his throat was too raw and dry, he was far too weak to start pushing himself to move while being on the floor and his back was so much more worse now. He knew it was bleeding for he could feel the slow flowing of his blood and just about see small puddle forming beside him in the corner of his eyes. Well he could tell it was blood even with the blurry vision for he can also smell it.

"I…I can't take, can't take this." Shadow thought as his brain was shutting down a little from the amount of pain still coursing through him.

"Someone…please…come…" Shadow quietly whispered between pants, dazed unfocused eyes staring at the blurry looking door, waiting, hoping, someone would open it and find him like this.

Collin was once again walking towards his sons bedroom, after his encounter with his wife that lasted almost fifteen minutes, with a bright cheerful smile on his muzzle. He reached the door and slowly opened it. when it was and he looked in that smile very quickly vanished as he saw his son on the floor, bleeding from his back and eyes closed.

"Shadow!" Collin cried out in fear and panic while rushing to his son's side.

To be continued…

(I am like super, super sorry it has taken so long to get a chapter done. I was struggling a little…ok a lot with how to make Shadow getting his wing sound and come across logical in a way. And yes I am very mean for leaving it on a cliff-hanger, but it was getting quite long so I'm breaking the chapter into a two parter.

I haven't got the second part typed up yet and will get to that soon. I will try to not leave it that long but if I do not have you telling me if you are enjoying this or not then I do tend to forget, for a while, that I have to update story's. So please if you do still want me to continue then drop a review and tell me if ya do. Until the next chapter…)