Chapter 8: Rhydian

Jana sits back down next to me. "Did something else happen when you went to talk to Ava?" She asks.

I know Carys wouldn't want me to tell Jana what happened at the school and in the woods, to be honest I'm not sure what happened. But I know she's going through something weird right now, it's pretty clear she wants to be alone. "No, she just, sort of, shouted at her and then we came back here." I feel bad, lying to my friends, but I would feel even worse if I betrayed Carys' trust.

We say goodbye to Tom and Shannon, and Maddy, Jana and I all walk back to Maddy's house. Mr and Mrs Smith are out on a date night and Ava texted me saying she thought it was best if she stayed in a bed and breakfast just outside Stoneybridge, she said she managed to flirt her way in. Gross. I'm just glad she's nowhere near Carys. We got in the house and Carys was nowhere to be found.

"Maybe I should go out and look for her," Jana suggests. I really don't think Carys wants to talk to anyone right now, but I can't exactly say that to Jana, she'll ask questions and she'll get the truth out of me.

"I'll go, you've had a long day, go get some rest," I say.

"Yeah, Carys' stuff is all still in her room, so you can go and sleep in there," Maddy says.

"Okay, if you're sure?" I nod. "Let me know if anything happens, or if she needs me," she yawns through her words.

"Go to sleep Jana, she'll be fine." She sleepily stumbles into Maddy's old room and I hear her flop onto the bed.

I kiss Maddy and I head back into the village. I can faintly catch Carys' scent but it's difficult to track her. Eventually, I find myself at the old church ruins on the outskirts of the village. It's dark now but I can see her sitting against one of the walls that have crumbled away over the years. She doesn't notice me at first, she just sits there whispering something.

"Go away," she says, "Go away," over and over again. She's rocking back and forth, clutching her head in distress. Trying not to spook her, I approach her slowly; she still doesn't see me with her head buried in her knees. The sleeves of her flannel shirt are all ripped up, right to the elbow. And there's blood on her arms.

"Carys?" She jumps and goes silently still, but she doesn't look up at me. I crouch at her side. "You're hurt. Let me see," I try to take her arm, but she yanks it away. "Let me help you!" She scoots away from me and starts violently shaking.

"No," she quietly protests. "I know you've been pretending to be nice. I know none of you really care what happens to me." She stands up, backing away further.

"What? Carys no, I-," I stand up too, taking slow steps towards her.

"Well neither do I," She starts scratching at her arms.

"Carys, just come back home and we can talk." I reach out to take her hand but she screams right in my face and pushes me to the ground, running off into the village. Her jeans are all torn up too, and I see blood again. I get up to follow her but she's fast, maybe faster than me. We're getting near the arch, I use all of my energy and I leap on top of her, pushing us both to the ground. She starts screaming at the top of her lungs. If I don't calm her down soon, someone will hear her screams and call the police.

"GET OFF ME," She digs her nails into my arm, "I DON'T NEED YOU. I DON'T NEED SAVING ANYMORE. I HAVE MY MUM NOW; I DON'T NEED ANY OF YOU." She bites down on my shoulder and almost wriggles away from me, but I manage to keep her pinned down.

Her eyes start to turn yellow and her veins change. I hold her down with one arm while I use the injured one to pull my phone out and call Maddy, but she doesn't pick up, I try her parents and they don't pick up, I try Jana and she doesn't pick up. Finally, I call Shannon.

"Shan? Can you call Whitewood and Sweeney? Anyone from Segolia, something's really wrong with Carys, she's not right. OW- Carys, stop!" She bites me again and I have to flip her onto her front and hold her hands behind her back.

"Okay okay, stay calm, I'll call now, I can't promise they'll answer, try and get her to Segolia, I'll get my keys and meet you on the way."

"Thank you," I hang up. "Sorry, Carys." I pull one of my shoelaces out of its loops, bind her wrists with it and sling her over my shoulders. Her screams get louder as I run, she hits and kicks me, but I keep running. I try calling Maddy again, no luck.

I know a shortcut through the woods onto the main road that leads out of Stoneybridge and into the city, Shan knows it too. When I get out of the woods, she pulls up beside me. She gets out of the car with something in her hand. "Put her down." I lay Carys down on the floor, she continues screaming and squirming as I hold her as still as I can. "Oh my God," she sees all of the cuts that cover Carys' arms and legs. "What the hell happened?"

"I think she's having some kind of breakdown; she's been hearing voices and seeing things. Things that aren't there."

Carys howls.

"Whitewood and Sweeney aren't answering their phones but I can sedate her, we just have to get her to Segolia, there are doctors there that can help her. Keep trying to call Jana, she deserves to know what's going on."

"Just do it," I demand as my grip on Carys loosens, "Sedate her, Shan!" I have to be ruthless if I want to help her. Shannon reveals that she's holding some kind of syringe, I hold Carys' arm down as Shannon injects the sedative into her veins. In less than a minute, she's out cold. "Open the door." We rush to get Carys in the back of the car.

Once we're on the road I call Maddy, but she doesn't answer, I try Carys' phone which I know is on her bedside table, then I remember I switched it back off. I even try Mr and Mrs Smith. Nothing. "No one's picking up." I look at Shannon who is on her Bluetooth to Tom.

"Tom, go around to Maddy's, get Jana to Segolia now," she hangs up without explaining and makes a sharp turn, it's about 11 o'clock at night so there aren't many cars out. We pull up outside the Segolia building, I scoop a limp Carys into my arms and we run inside.

"You're sure there'll be doctors? She needs help now," I ask Shan, who is still trying to get hold of Rebecca.

"There'll be people on the night shift but don't expect a full staff. Luckily, I don't think there are any patients in today, so she'll get their full attention. She'll be okay."

We go inside and up to the 1st floor. We burst through double doors and Shannon starts talking to a nurse and a doctor who are waiting to receive their newest patient. Two other nurses rush over to me with a stretcher. I lay Carys down.

"Rhydian found her in a pretty bad state, I think it's some kind of psychotic episode," Shannon says as we all walk down the hall to a private room. "I had to sedate her; she was becoming dangerous." Shannon will probably get in trouble for taking the sedative from Segolia, but that doesn't matter right now.

"How old is she?" A nurse blocks my view as Carys is taken into another room.

"Fifteen, almost sixteen."

"Has her legal guardian been contacted?" I'm not sure if the staff here know about Wolfbloods, so I just shrug. I push past the nurse and look through a window into Carys' room, they're dressing her wounds. Shannon's telling the doctor about what Carys was like before she was sedated. Then she mentions that it's nothing to do with the dark moon and that it doesn't seem anything like the Morwal. They know about us.

"She's been in the wild for a few months, waiting until she turns 16 to come back to the human world so she doesn't have to go into the care system," I say. He writes down every word on his clipboard. Two nurses are buckling her arms and legs to the bed. "What the hell are you doing?" I barge in to stop them, but Shan pulls me back.

"It's for her safety as well as ours Rhydian. Look what she did to you," she gestures to my shoulder. Carys bit right through my jacket and into my skin. I hadn't even noticed the pain until I saw the blood pouring out of me, but the guilt of not helping Carys sooner hurts more. If I had told someone what happened earlier, I could have prevented this. The doctor sees the wound and calls one of the nurses to bandage me up. She sits me down on a chair in Carys' room. I stare at her the whole time the nurse cleans my wound. It stings a little, but I barely flinch. She asks to take my blood for the Segolia files, and I just nod, keeping my eyes on Carys, who lays limp on the pristine white hospital bed. Her clothes are dirty and torn. She looks so out of place. I should have told Jana as soon as I realised something was wrong with Carys.

Jana bursts through the doors and right to Carys' side, Tom and Maddy follow shortly after. Jana's crying. Maddy comes to my side.

"What happened?" She asks, sitting down. All I can do is sit here. Maddy hugs me and kisses my head.

"We'll do an evaluation tomorrow when she's awake and a bit more stable," the doctor says. "For now, it's best if only one of you stay with her." He gives a somewhat reassuring nod and leaves the room. Jana leans against the bed holding her hand and sobbing.

"Rhydian, what happened?" Tom asks me. Everyone stares at me, apart from Jana who can't take her eyes off of Carys.

"I don't know, she just snapped. I should have told you earlier today, she was hearing things, seeing things, it happened again, and she started to scare me. None of you answered your phones so I called Shannon and we brought her here." I feel so guilty. "I'm sorry, Jana."

"It's okay, it's not your fault. It's mine. She's been having nightmares, calling out her mum's name out in the night. I asked, but she didn't want to talk about it, I figured she would tell me when she was ready. And she had a weird turn this morning, or last night. Gerwyn found her in a cave near camp. What happened to her arms? And her legs," her voice breaks as her fingers run over the scratches on her body. I go to her side.

"I don't know, she was like that when I found her. But she was scratching a lot. I'll stay here with you," I take her free hand. "Sorry for getting you all up guys, you should go get some rest."

Maddy comes to me and pulls me aside. "Are you sure you want to stay? You're hurt too," she says.

"I'm fine. I need to stay and make sure she's okay. And I should talk to Jana." I give her a quick kiss and hug.

"Okay, if you're sure. We'll come back tomorrow," she hugs Jana.

"Give us a call if anything changes," Tom says. I nod and three of them leave the room.

I look up at Jana who looks so terrified. I can understand why, I'm pretty scared too.

"It's not your fault, Jana." She doesn't say anything. I sit back down in the armchair and Jana sits on a chair next to Carys' bed. I know neither of us is going to get any sleep tonight. I sort of wish Shan could have sedated me as well.