A/N: This is probably one of my favorite chapters. What happens in it I mean. Not so much the writing. haha...
Chapter 12: A Path Anew
Zain slowly opened his eyes. For a moment he didn't see anything. He sat up and wiped at his eyes. No, not now. He stood and found his fingertips tingled and shook his head again. He had been pushing it away for days and now he would pay. This one wouldn't be good.
He clenched and unclenched his hand hoping it was just an after affect from waking.
What was he doing here anyways? Hadn't his mother warned and warned him against something like this? His hand trembled and he closed it.
First and foremost his mother had always said, "We do not choose paths." Even to her deathbed she stayed adamant about that. She told him over and over. So what was he doing here? Zain splashed cold water over his burning eyes. He knew it wouldn't do much but...perhaps he could fight it for one more day at least?
Futile, the voice in his head borne from his mother's teachings said, futile attempt.
Zain hit the wall. Was it so bad, really, to want what others had found? His own mother must have found something. Whether love or lust, Zain himself was here as a testament to what she'd done. Along with him she had passed on the curse of their family.
The air became thick and threatened to choke him. It eased momentarily. Without thinking, Zain stood and opened the door. From the look on Leon's face Zain knew he'd answered the door before the knock had sounded. Zain winced. If it had been anyone else it could have passed by as coincidence but Leon knew about him.
Leon's eyes were wide. "We were going to eat and then leave. Is today, ah, one of your...bad days?"
"I hope not." Zain answered and closed the door with a nod to Leon. He tried to change and rebraid his hair quickly but every now and then he would stumble when his eyes would stop seeing.
One of his guides years ago had said he walked like a drunk when he was near time. He walked carefully so no one would notice something especially odd with him. Somewhere in his mind he knew he was hoping that if no one else noticed something was wrong then nothing would be wrong. This might, just this once, pass him by. His mother's voice threw words at him like futile and inevitable.
The next level came up on him despite his attempts to push it back. The world and feelings became sharper. Every step sent shocks up his legs. A simple breath felt like a wind rushing in and out of him. His body felt weighed down. Zain fought to distinguish between the people walking down the hall now and those that would be walking down it in five minutes. No, no, no, no...
He felt Leon's hand on his elbow a few seconds before Leon grabbed him to help guide him as was his job. Zain closed his eyes when they walked into the common room of the inn. It was disconcerting to see someone sitting in a chair and at the same time see their ghost rise to talk to someone else or get a drink. Then he remembered he was trying to look as if nothing was wrong. He forced his eyes open. Leon set him down in a chair.
"Do you feel alright?" Lana's voice came to him. "Do you want something to eat?"
He had no way of knowing if she was about to say that or if the words had really been spoken. He took the safe way. He had learned that if he said something as if stating it instead of answering a question he could get away with little strangenesses. "I am not hungry."
The wind left him. The air thickened around him so he could draw no breath. He saw it like a tall wave above him. He saw it but there was no way he could really escape. The wave would come crashing down on him and leave him spinning, disoriented and lost. There was a pause and he had just enough time to think stupid stupid stupid! before the air released its hold and he gasped just before the wave fell on him.
Zain lost everything. He lost all of who he was as pictures, images and feelings that were not his filled his vision. Everything rushed to him and at the same time it was all so clear. Zain fell away from the world and a part of him protested but it was a futile fight. This was inevitable.
Lana saw Zain tense and throw his head back. He gasped. His body would go slack and then just as suddenly as this had all started he would tense up from head to toe. The veins in neck pressed against the prison of skin. His fingers bent and looked like claws. Before she could get the obvious question out—what was happening?--Leon leaped up from his seat, pulled out a dagger and plunged it into Zain's arm.
Lana was standing and ready but Damien was closer. He sent Leon to the ground with a punch to the jaw. Several other patrons there rose to their feet sensing there might be a brawl. Vincent went there to calm them down. Lana went to Zain's side.
She was kneeling by his side but had no clue where to start. She knew he needed some kind of help but she didn't have any to give in this situation. The dagger was deep enough that it stood out of his arm on its own with the bandages he always wore already soaked. He hadn't even winced when Leon stabbed him.
Leon stood and wiped the blood from his chin. "That's it. I'm through. Nothing is worth this kind of crap."
He must have had his bags already packed because he went to his room got his bag and left out the door. Lana never saw him again.
Finally, Zain went completely limp and his eyes fluttered but stayed closed.
"Carry him to my room, it's the closest." Damien looked like he wanted to protest but know that this was not the time. Vincent took his legs and Damien grabbed the unconscious man at his armpits.
Lana was almost frantic. Everything had happened so fast that her mind was still reeling. Her brothers put Zain on the bed and she was at his side in seconds. "Damien go see if you can get some bandages and Vincent get some water and anything else you think might help."
She took good hold of the dagger and pulled it out before she could scare herself out of it. With it she cut off the rest of the bandages and held those over the wound. Damien came in with the bandages. "A lot of people out there are wondering what happened...well you know how people are. I told them to go away and we'd ask for anything if we needed it."
Just then the door opened. Vincent walked in carrying...nothing. He turned back and said. "'Kay children, bring it in. Be sure not to spill or drop anything."
Three boys walked in carefully. Two carrying a bowl with water in it and the third with rags. Vincent was smiling, proud of a job well done. The children filed back out making sure to get a good eyeful of Zain.
"What were you thinking Vincent?" Damien hissed after they had left.
"What?" He questioned innocently. "I needed help and they wanted to give it. It was a wonderful deal."
"Help?" Damien's voice seemed to get more calm but the other triplets knew better than to think that. "Help? It would have been help if you had carried something."
Vincent seemed to think about that. "Yes, your right. The deal did work out better for me than them didn't it?"
This would go nowhere. Damien would continue to try and get Vincent to understand exactly why he was annoyed and Vincent would let it slide away or just purposefully ignore it. Lana didn't have time for this. "Will the two of you stop it?"
She cleaned away most of the blood with the rags. Lana was just about to wrap it up when her eyes caught sight of his arms. She stared at it long enough for the slow flow of blood to drip to the floor. She cleaned it again and wrapped it. It took her a few moments to get her thoughts together but she finally put on a smile and ushered both brothers out.
"Aww, Lana come on!" Vincent whined while Damien grumbled.
"No, it'll be fine."
"You just want to touch him while no one's looking." Vincent said just as the door was closing. Lana didn't want to open the door just to say that, no, she didn't but it would have been too much hassle.
Lana pulled a chair up beside the bed. She swiped at her misty eyes. What could lead someone to do that to themselves? Lana reached out one hand and took hold of Zain's. His fingers were slender, almost feminine. Her eyes went to his face. She traced the contours with her eyes taking in every detail from the curve of his lips to the dark lashes against his cheekbones. Before she knew what she was doing her other hand was pushing back tendrils of loose hair.
With that small touch his head jerked to the side with a gasp and his hand clenched around hers as if feeling there was someone there. He thrashed a bit eyes bursting open. Lana thought that he would calm after he realized it was her but he looked at her with unseeing black eyes. Lana gasped. Someone had poured pitch into his beautiful eyes.
"Zain? It's me." Lana said softly.
"Lana?" His voice was soft too. He stared up at the ceiling.
"Are you okay?" His head moved slowly from side to side and his eyes closed like he was in pain. His hand slackened around hers. Zain pulled away from her. She could feel it before he turned on his side and curled up. There was a fine trembling in his body.
The small movement made a part of Lana sink. She frowned not knowing what to do. She did the only thing she could think of and pulled the blanket that had been shoved to the end of the bed over him. She touched his shoulder lightly and before she could try and get something out of him she felt him stiffen under her touch.
Lana pulled away whispering, "Sorry."
His hand shot out. It looked like he was trying to grab hers but he missed. Zain sighed and with it some tension went out of his body. "It's not--I didn't mean--" He sighed again. "I'm blind, Lana."
Forgetting she had moved and the chair was no longer behind her Lana fell to the ground with surprise.
A/N: I'm sure by now you must be seeing some reoccuring things with me. I'm working on being different but ... Rome wasn't built in a day!
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