Chapter 8: Break Downs and Break Outs
Jumping at the sound of his phone going off, Madende stopped and leaned against a tree, pulling it from his pocket and looking at it. Raising an eyebrow, he answered, slightly confused.
"Hello?" he asked.
"Where in the hell are you?" Bryn's voice came from the other line.
He didn't sound happy at all, and this worried Madende slightly.
"Um…" Madende said looking around. "I don't honestly know. We're out in the woods somewhere." he replied.
"Well how did you get there?" Bryn asked, getting more annoyed.
"Walked." Madende replied.
It was the honest truth, but Bryn didn't like the answer.
"Alright smart ass." he grumbled. "Send me some pics of the place and I'll come find you." he said, and Madende raised an eyebrow again.
"Why don't you just track my scent?" he asked.
"Because there's so many scents around here and the smell of blood, it seems to have covered yours up. And no ones at the house, so I can't just run with them." Bryn half snapped.
"Ok, shesh, I'm sorry." Madende said. "Let me get off here and I'll send you my surroundings." he said, restraining a cough.
"Fine." Bryn said, hanging up.
"Ok, bye to you too." Madende grumbled, hitting the end button on his phone.
"Who was that?" Eclipse asked, looking at him oddly.
"Bryn. Who else hangs up on you?" Madende asked, smiling weakly.
"Good point." Eclipse said nodding.
Madende took several pictures of their surroundings and sent them off to Bryn. Within seconds, he was standing in front of Madende who jumped and grabbed his side, as a sudden bolt of pain shot through his body at the sudden movement.
"How the hell do you do that?!" Eclipse cried, jumping back.
"Your hurt." Bryn said, ignoring Eclipse's question and staring directly at Madende.
Madende nodded weakly.
"Blake kicked me in the side last night when they attacked us." he said. "By the way, how did you know what happened?" he asked.
Bryn suddenly slapped Madende in the back of the head, hard enough to make his eyes cross for a second.
"You should be resting!" he snapped.
"Ow!" Madende squeaked, rubbing the back of his head. "What the hell was that for?!" he cried, looking up at him.
"I just told you." Bryn said.
"Damn. But I have to find Jeric and the others!" Madende said, looking down, still rubbing his head.
"Sandra and I can do it. As can any of the others." Bryn said, glaring at him.
"Yea but I can't just sit there doing nothing." Madende said, looking back up at him.
"I don't care, you need to be laying down trying to heal." Bryn said, still staring him down.
"Gerard wants him to come after him. He wants to fight him." Shadow said.
"Fuck him. Madende doesn't need to go. If he wants him to go, then he knows he's hurt and he knows he can beat his ass." Bryn said, looking back at her.
"Still…would you be able to lay in a room, if you were wounded, if Akira had been taken?" Shadow asked quietly.
Bryn glared at her for minute then looked away with a sigh.
"No I wouldn't. But you can't follow my footsteps. Look how many times I've almost died, because I wouldn't allow anyone to help me." he said, looking back at Madende. "Do as I say, not as I do." he added.
"I can't…stand back and do nothing to help…" Madende said, dropping his head, tears forming in his eyes. "I can't do it…" he said again, shaking his head.
Shadow turned her head to the side, hiding her own tears, and closed her eyes, putting a hand over her mouth. She could not stand to see her brother cry. Always so strong for her and her sister, and always standing up for what's right and helping the weak, Madende hardly ever cried. He had to be in some major pain or completely terrified for that boy to cry, and right now, he was caught between both.
"Madende." Bryn said calmly, catching both Shadow's and Eclipse's attention. "You have helped. We only worry about your life. I know where your coming from, I honestly do, but your scaring your sisters." he said walking over to him.
Madende slid down the tree to the ground, hiding his face in his arms, and wincing as he doubled over. Bryn knelt down in front of him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm worried about you. Those breaks can get bad. I've seen how bad they can get." he said quietly.
"I just don't them want to think I abandoned them…left them for dead…" Madende muttered, shaking his head.
"They won't think that, Madende." Bryn said, shaking his head. "Look, I've gotten Jeric and Sandra out of worse situations than this. Just go back to the house and let us take care of this. You can't fight in this condition not to mention, Jeric will kick your ass up one way and down the other." he said, squeezing Madende's shoulder.
Madende looked up and wiped his face, nodding in agreement and sighing sadly.
"I know your worried, but try to relax and get some rest. You need to heal." Bryn said, smiling weakly at him.
Madende nodded and slowly got to his feet, holding his side. Shadow looked sadly up at him as he walked slowly back towards the house, then stopped suddenly looking around.
"What?" Bryn asked.
"Where's Jake?" Madende asked, looking at Shadow.
She and Eclipse glanced around, total confusion written on their faces. Bryn looked around as well, then back at Madende.
"We'll find him. He can't be to far." he said.
Madende nodded and coughed a few times, doubling over and holding his side tighter. Shadow looked at him worriedly and put a hand on his back, gently rubbing it to keep him calm.
"I'll take him back and catch up with you later." she said, looking back at Bryn.
"No, I'm fine. Go with them." Madende said, shaking his head and standing up.
"Are you sure?" Shadow asked, looking at him nervously.
"Yes. Just go. I'll get back." Madende said, turning into his demon form.
Shadow nodded and stepped back as he stretched his wings and jumped into the air, flying back towards the house. Shadow, Bryn and Eclipse watching him until he was completely out of sight, then looked at each other.
"Think he'll be able to land alright?" Eclipse asked quietly.
"I hope…" Shadow muttered, looking back at him. "We should get going." she said, turning and walking off.
"Do you know the way?" Bryn asked.
"No, but I'm following Jake's scent." Shadow replied, looking back over her shoulder.
Bryn nodded and followed after her, Eclipse close behind them.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Awakening to a coughing fit, Jeric opened his eyes and looked around, coughing again. In the cell to his left, Abi and Adam sat, dozing lightly, Abi curled up to Adam, her head on his shoulder. In the cell to his right, Shade sat on the end of his bed, his head down and his elbows resting on his knees. Jeric sat up slowly and coughed again, setting his feet on the ground and sitting still for a few minutes. Shade looked over and smiled weakly at him, leaning back some.
"How's Madende?" Jeric asked, looking at him.
"Worried, in pain, and scared." Shade replied quietly. "I've been trying to keep him calm for the passed half hour, but…he's really worked up." he said, shaking his head.
"He's not coming out here is he?" Jeric asked, looking nervous.
"No. Bryn apparently convinced him to head back to the house and stay there, and he'd take care of us." Shade replied.
"Oh boy…I hope he didn't convince him in a painful way." Jeric muttered, looking towards the door of his cell.
"He didn't. Madende says he himself was on the verge of a break down though." Shade said, looking back at the floor.
"Why?" Jeric asked, looking up at him, worry on his face.
"Because he's worried about you and the rest of us, and he's hurt, and he knows that if he comes out here, you'd be mad at him, but he didn't want us to think he left us for dead." Shade replied quietly.
"Is he talking to you now?" Jeric asked.
"Yea some what. He's on his way back to the house." Shade replied.
"Tell him I said I'm fine and to calm down and get some rest." Jeric said and Shade nodded and fell silent for a minute.
"He said he'd try but can't make any promises." he said looking back at Jeric.
Suddenly, Madende's voice popped into Jeric's head, making him almost jump off the bed and wince from the sudden movement.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't want to stay behind, but Bryn told me too." he said telepathically to Jeric.
Jeric put a hand on his side and the other on his chest, as he panted and tried to calm down. Then he thought to himself, "Its fine, just do what he says. We'll be out of here soon." so that Madende could read his mind.
"Ok…" Madende replied a little hesitantly.
"He hates not being able to help the ones he loves." Shade said, looking at Jeric.
"I know." Jeric replied sadly. "But I don't want him here since he's hurt." he said.
"Agreed." Shade replied, nodding.
Falling silent for a few minutes, Shade suddenly jumped to his feet, making Jeric jump again, and grab his side.
"What the hell is your problem?" he asked through clenched teeth.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you, but I'm going to try getting out of here." Shade said, going to the door.
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Jeric asked, standing and going to the door. "These things are stronger than hell." he muttered, looking over at Shade.
"Well see, I've learned to pick locks from Madende and Shadow. So…" Shade replied, growing out his claws and sticking his hand through the bars of the door. "If I can get this door unlocked, I may be able to the get the others opened too, and we can make a get away." he said, starting to pick at the lock.
"Ah I see…" Jeric said, watching him.
Shade picked at the lock for a few minutes, until his claw broke and he pulled his hand back, glaring at his hand.
"Damn it…" he muttered, re-growing the nail and starting again.
Jeric laughed lightly and turned back towards the bed and lay back down gently. For another several minutes, Shade picked at the lock until it clicked opened. Smiling, he stood up and gently and silently pushed the door open. However, Gerard hadn't been as dumb as the others who had taken them, and had set up an alarm system on the doors, which went off loudly, making everyone jump violently. Shade covered his ears and hunkered over, while Jeric covered his ears and shivered. Adam and Abi stood breathing quickly looking around frantically and covering their ears, as was Dalila and Jareth.
"One of them is loose!" someone called from the stair case.
Shade looked back at the door before running out of the cell, heading for the other direction. Two men chased after him, following him down the hall. As Shade reached the wall, the jumped and dove out the glass window, hitting the ground and rolling down the steep hill. Shards of glass cut and stabbed him deeply, causing blood to run freely from his arms, face and neck. At the bottom of the hill, Shade staggered to his feet and shook his head to rid himself of the dizziness from rolling down the hill, and looked around, breathing heavily. A deep cut marked his cheek and blood ran down the side of his face. Another one was on the side of his neck, blood running down and soaking the neck of his shirt. His arms were bleeding badly, blood dripping off his fingertips, onto the green grass he was standing in.
"Well hell…" he muttered, looking in all directions. "I don't know where the fuck I'm at…" he grumbled.
Behind him, he noticed a crystal clear looking pond with a dock that ran out almost to the middle of it. However, out the back door of the mansion, ran several men, heading right for him.
"Fuck…" Shade grumbled, his shoulders drooping and rolling his eyes.
Turning into his demon form, Shade jumped into the air and flew off. The men slid to a stop watching him leave, unable to do anything about it. Shade flew way up in the sky, higher than the trees, and looked around, trying to find familiar places so he could find his way home. His wounds were already healed, and all that remained was a faint scar and the dried blood.
"God damn! Where the fuck am I at?!" he yelled, not noticing any familiar land marks or places.
Looking around, he did notice a small cave just outside the grounds of the house and sighed.
"I guess I'm waiting around until they get here." he grumbled to himself, taking off quickly.
Disappearing into the trees, Shade landed silently in a tree and looked around. No one was around and he didn't smell anyone, so he jumped down and ran to the cave, disappearing into its darkness.
A/n: well theres the next chappy. hope you liked it :) sorry its so short hehe. well, review for me! LaterZ!
SHOUT OUT
To Abi. i hope i got Jeric and Bryn right. thanx for helpin me with em :)