Chapter 12: Last Whispers
Jeric shimmered onto the doorstep of the Fox house, and coughed roughly a few times, before going through the door. The smell of blood hit him instantly, although he wasn't able to make out who's blood it was. Like Bryn, the first thing he noticed was the shattered coffee table to his right, then the body in the kitchen floor. Running into the kitchen, he was extremely relieved to see it was Blake, and noticed the foot prints in blood, this time to sets.
"Madende?!" he yelled, running up the stairs.
He raced through the door to their bedroom, and saw the bloody bed and the shattered window. Heart racing, and ignoring the sharp pains in his side, Jeric turned from the bedroom and ran down the hall.
"Bryn?! Madende?! Anyone?!" he yelled.
"Jeric! Up here!" came Sandra's voice from the third floor.
Running up the stairs to the third floor, he met Sandra at the top of the stairs. She looked heart broken and worried, and stepped to the side as he reached the top of the stairs.
"Where is he?" he asked breathlessly.
" In there." she said quietly, pointing to the open door.
Jeric briskly walked into the room, and his eyes instantly fell on Madende's still from in the bed, head facing away from him. Bryn looked up from his chair, and stood, slowly walking around the side of the bed. Mixed emotions flooded Jeric as he looked down at Madende, dried blood covering his chest, and his stomach still bruised.
"What happened?" he asked, looking back at Bryn.
"Well…" Bryn said, hesitating slightly. "He was attacked by Blake here at the house."
"Why was he here at the house?" Jeric asked, beginning to shake with rage.
"I told him to stay put." Bryn replied.
"Why?" Jeric asked, glaring at Bryn.
"He was hurt." Bryn said, looking back at Jeric.
"NOW LOOK AT HIM!" Jeric yelled, pointing to Madende's still form.
"Jeric, I had no idea Blake would come back looking for him." Bryn said calmly, shaking his head. "And I knew if he went out to the mansion with the rest of us, he'd get hurt worse, and you'd be pissed at both of us." he added.
Jeric suddenly jumped forward, punching Bryn roughly in the chest. But Bryn didn't step back, or even try to fight back, instead he just stood there while Jeric hit him two more times. Sadness overtaking his rage, Jeric collapsed against Bryn's chest, tears falling from his eyes and rolling down his face. Bryn looked sadly down at him and put his hands on his shoulders, as Jeric cried, leaning against him.
"He's going to be ok, Jeric." he said calmly. "Sandra stopped his bleeding and healed his ribs the best she could. He'll just need some rest." he added quietly.
Jeric nodded and tried to calm himself, but failed.
"You have no idea how bad I feel about this…if I had known it would have been safer for him to go, I would have let him come with." Bryn said, looking over at Madende.
Jeric pushed away from Bryn some and coughed roughly. Bryn looked down at him, worried, as Sandra poked her head around the door.
"Jeric, are you alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine…" Jeric muttered, wiping his face and looking at Madende.
"You sure?" Sandra asked, stepping around the door. "I have things with me, I can give you something." she pressed.
"I said I'm fine." he repeated, walking over and sitting gently on the bed beside Madende.
Sandra and Bryn looked at each other. Bryn sighed and shook his head, slowly walking to the door.
"I'm going to go clean up a little downstairs." he said, looking back at Jeric.
Jeric nodded, but didn't reply or look back at him. Turning, Bryn walked out of the door, Sandra following.
"I'll help.." she said quietly, following him downstairs.
Jeric gently brushed some of Madende's bangs from his face, and grabbed his hand. Madende's breathing was light, like he was sleeping, but his face still showed signs of pain from time to time. His skin was cooler than normal, but not to terribly cold.
"Look at you, Madende…" he whispered, looking him over. "Blood everywhere…hurt again…you're cold…what am I going to do with you?…"
Madende's hand twitched lightly, and his fingers slowly and lightly curled around Jeric's hand. Smiling weakly, Jeric gently rubbed the side of Madende's face with the back of his fingers. Fresh tears formed his eyes, as he looked Madende over again, noticing the scar on his right shoulder, where he had been stabbed.
"You have blood all over you." Jeric said, running his hand over the dried blood on Madende's shoulder. "I'm going to clean you up some." he said, gently standing.
Madende groaned weakly, as Jeric's hand slipped from his.
"I'll be right back, I promise." Jeric said, gently touching the side of Madende's face.
Turning, he quickly walked into the bathroom and grabbed a washcloth, soaking it in warm water, and headed back into the bedroom. He gently sat back down where he was, and grabbed Madende's hand again, who in return, gently curled his fingers back around his hand. Smiling again, Jeric gently leaned over him and began cleaning the blood off his shoulder. It wiped off easily with the warm water, and soon his whole chest was cleaned. He'd even managed to clean Madende's right hand one handed, and lay the washcloth on the bedside table. Grabbing the blanket, Jeric pulled it back up to Madende's shoulders, keeping his one hand in his own, and rubbing his thumb over the back of Madende's hand.
Jeric remained where he was for the next hour or so, very gently changing positions once, so that he was laying next to Madende, to keep him warm, but being extremely careful of his side.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Just as the others had been freed, Gerard's fighters flooded into the basement. But unable to see, they were slow, and easy to attack by the demons and vampires waiting silently in the dark. Shi and Shadow stayed well out of way, huddled together in a corner, away from the fighting, trying to warm themselves. Once or twice a fighter saw their eyes glowing and tried making their way over to them, but Adam, Shade, or Eclipse stopped them. Once everything had settled, and the fighters were all dead, or had ran, Eclipse and Shade made their way over to the girls.
"You guys ok?" Shade asked, kneeling down beside them.
"Yea…Just c-cold…" Shadow muttered through chattering teeth.
"Maybe we should send them back to the house with one of the boys." Eclipse muttered, looking at Shade.
"I'll take them." Dalila offered, walking over.
Shade nodded and picked Shadow back up as Eclipse lifted Shi to her feet. Adam looked up at Keegen, who was leaning against him.
"Maybe we should go back too." he muttered.
"No I'm fine." Keegen said, shaking his head.
"Keegen, you're to weak to fight. I don't want you too." Adam said, worry in his voice and showing on his face.
Keegen looked down at him and smiled weakly. Eclipse walked over to them, Shi wrapped tightly in his arms, shivering violently.
"Dalila can't carry both girls, and neither of them can walk very well. Will one of you carry one back to the house?" he asked.
"I would. But-" Adam started but Keegen cut him off.
"I'll be fine once we get out of the house." he said quietly.
"Are you sure?" Adam asked, looking up at him.
"The house drains our energy, but once you get out of it, some of it comes back on its own." shade said, as he helped Shadow onto Dalila's back.
"There's your answer." Keegen said, smiling at Adam. "I'll be fine." he added, gently kissing his forehead.
"Alright." Adam said, nodding. "I can carry Shi then." he added looking back at Eclipse.
Eclipse nodded and looked down at Shi.
"I'll walk you to the window, and help you out. Once you guys are out, go back to the house, and wait for us. We'll catch up soon." he said.
"Eclipse, I'd rather you come with us." Shi muttered, shivering and looking up at him.
"I'll be fine. I'm more worried about you getting warm before you get sick." he said, starting to walk to the window.
Adam, Keegen, and Dalila followed. When they reached the window, Keegen was the first to climb out, and reached back through to pull Adam up. Eclipse lifted Shi up to him, and smiled as she looked sadly back down at him.
"Don't worry, I'll be ok. I'll catch up." he said and she nodded.
"Shadow, give me your hands and I'll pull you up." Keegen said, holding out his hands to her.
Shadow grabbed his hands and he easily lifted her out into the warm air, as Dalila hugged Eclipse.
"You be careful, you hear?" she said, looking at him.
"I will be. I have Jake, Abi, Shade, and Jareth with me, I'll be good." he said, smiling.
Dalila nodded and jumped up, grabbing the window sill and pulling herself through. Shade walked over and looked up at Shadow, who was curled up to Keegen, shivering.
"I love you." he said, smiling.
"I l-l-ove you t-too…" Shadow replied, teeth still chattering and tried to smile.
"Eclipse, be careful please…I love you." Shi said, tears in her eyes.
"I will be and I love you too." Eclipse replied, blowing a kiss to her.
Shi smiled weakly and pretended to catch it and put it in her pocket.
"I'll save it for a rainy day." she whispered, as Adam picked her up.
"Lets go." he said, looking at Dalila, as Keegen helped Shadow back onto her back.
Nodding, they all took off, disappearing into the woods as Gerard's minions ran out, surrounding the house.
"We need to get upstairs." Eclipse said, looking at Shade.
Shade nodded and turned back to the others. Jareth stood with Abi and Jake, listening.
"Someone is coming." Jake said, looking at Eclipse and Shade as they walked up.
Abi looked towards the stairs, as the door opened.
"Run." Shade hissed, and they all turned and raced for the window.
"Why are you running?!" Gerard asked, racing after them.
As they all jumped out the window, Gerard's minions surrounded them. Jake grabbed one of the men's hands and snapped the bones in his wrist as he reached to grab Abi. The man howled in pain and stumbled back, his companions grabbing him and pushing him to the back of the group.
Jumping out the window last, Jareth held up his arms, and closed his eyes. He could feel his energy coming back little by little already, just by stepping out of the house. Fire suddenly flicked to life, starting at his feet, and surrounded Abi, Jake, Shade, Eclipse and himself, making Gerard's minions jump back in surprise. Gerard himself, fell back through the window, at feeling the sudden heat wave push against his face. Jareth opened his eyes, and held his arms further out away from himself, and the fire ring widened. Even though the flames licked at the sides of the mansion, there were no burn marks left, nor did it catch fire. Jareth turned back towards the mansion, and lowered his hands, while taking a few steps back, as Gerard finally pulled himself through the window.
Again, the fire ring widened, pushing the men back further yet from them, allowing Abi, Jake, Eclipse, and Shade to step back out of the way. Gerard stood, and faced Jareth, glaring at him, as Jareth smirked back at him.
"Where are the rest of you?" Gerard asked. "Where's Madende?" he asked, looking around.
"Madende won't be coming. You'll have to deal with me." Jareth said, crossing his arms. "Isn't that what you wanted anyway? Me?" he asked, looking at Gerard.
"You and Dalila." Gerard agreed, nodding.
"What do you want with Dalila?" Jareth asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well you see…" Gerard started, smiling evilly. "She has quite a bounty on that pretty little head of hers, for surviving the attack of the most feared demon in your world." he said, shrugging casually.
"You want her, so you can kill her, and get rich?" Jareth asked, growling.
"Something like that." Gerard said, nodding.
"You money hungry bastard!" Jake growled suddenly, making Abi, Eclipse and Shade jump.
Gerard laughed and looked at him.
"A bit defensive, are we?" he asked.
"That's not even the worst of it." Jareth said, shaking his head.
Gerard looked at him with raised eyebrows. Jareth glared back and knelt down, holding his hand out over the ground.
"You're going to make this easy on me, you know." Gerard said mockingly.
"What do you mean?" Jareth asked, looking back up at him.
"Lets see, you're still weak from my house, you're using a lot of energy as it is keeping this fire going, and here you are about to use more on your pet plants." Gerard said smiling. "How much more easier can it get?" he asked.
"Not any at all." Jareth said, shaking his head. "You're a human, so you have no idea how much energy a demon possesses." he said, smirking,.
Gerard's eyes widened and he watched Jareth closely as he laid his hands on the ground and looked back down. Small vines curled out of the ground and wrapped around his hands, making him smile weakly. Gerard felt the ground under his feet move and stepped back, smiling.
"Why are you smiling?" Jareth asked, not even looking up.
"You missed." he replied calmly.
"You shouldn't be so quick to underestimate a plant." Jareth said, shaking his head.
Gerard started to say something, but froze when he felt something slither across his feet. Looking down, his heart stopped when he saw several vines coiling themselves up around his legs. Jareth smiled and looked up, standing slowly. The small vines that had wrapped around his hands from the ground, now slowly coiled up his arms like leafy snakes. Abi, Jake, Shade, and Eclipse started in shock at him and Gerard, as the vines wound around both of them. But the didn't seem to be doing any harm to Jareth, but Gerard was jumping from time to time.
"You haven't met my razor leaf friend yet, have you?" Jareth asked, smiling, as one of his vines traced across Gerard's arm, cutting it deeply.
Gerard clenched his teeth and groaned in pain, looking at Jareth. Jareth's smile widened as Gerard winced and tried to pull away from the vines, but they only tightened around him, constricting him.
"The more you pull, the tighter they get." he warned.
"Get them off of me!" Gerard yelled, panic covering his voice.
"Don't think so." Jareth said, shaking his head.
He held up his hand, and yet another set of vines sprouted from the ground and wound around him. They worked their way up his body, and slithered into the cuts the razor vines had made. Abi shuddered and turned away, hiding her face in Jake's chest, while Shade and Eclipse made a disgusted face. Gerard yelled out and tried pulling them back out of his wounds, but failed.
"Not going to work either." Jareth said. "And of course, you already know about my beautiful but deadly friend, the rose vine." he said, as a rose vine shot up beside him.
"Jareth, please. I'll leave you alone! I'll disappear and not ever come back, please, just let me go!" Gerard begged.
"So you can go run your mouth that Vampire's and Demon's really do exist?" Jareth asked, raising and eyebrow. "I don't think so." he added, laughing coldly.
Suddenly a huge vine sprouted just in front of Jareth, and stood almost three times as tall as him, and as thick as Jake, Abi, Eclipse, Shade, and Jareth put together. Abi looked back and her jaw dropped open, as did all the others. Jareth smiled as the huge vine stopped growing, and swayed gently in the wind. Gerard looked up at it, eyes wide with fear. At the top of the vine, was a big oval shaped figure, with what looked like teeth standing off of it on both sides, each row laying between each other.
"W-w-what the hell is that?!" Gerard stammered, looking from the plant, to Jareth.
"That, my friend, is a giant Venus Fly Trap." Jareth replied casually. "But don't you worry yourself, its not here for you." he added, smiling.
A Reaper suddenly appeared beside him, and Jareth looked over at it, making no move to run from it, or even showing fear to it. Abi gasped, and gripped Jake's shirt tightly, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, growling, as Shade and Eclipse took a fighting stance. Jareth smiled as the Reaper glided closer, and held his hand up. The Fly Trap opened its enormous mouth and bent over, snatching the Reaper up in its mouth and snapping it shut again. The Reaper's bones were crushed under the weight of the jaws, one of its arms dangling limply from the side of its mouth.
"Now, lets get this over with, I want to go home." Jareth stated, as all the men outside the fire ring ran off.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated for a moment, and the Venus Fly Trap slowly sank back into the ground, as well as the beautiful but deadly rose vine. But the other vines, crept up Gerard's body, wrapping tightly around his throat, and coiling up his head. The smaller vines slowly slithered into his nose and ears, while one of the bigger ones waited by his mouth.
"You may kill me…but there will be more…more humans coming for you…" Gerard wheezed, as the vines tightened around his throat.
"You don't think we already know this?" Jareth asked, raising an eyebrow.
"There…will…be…more…" were Gerard's last whispers before the thick vine slipped into his mouth and down his throat, suffocating him.
The fire died down, and the vines retreated back into the ground, as Gerard's body dropped to the ground, lifeless. Jareth turned back to the others, and slowly walked back.
"Shall we leave then?" he asked quietly.
"I guess…" Shade muttered, looking down at Gerard's body.
"You really didn't need us here after all." Abi said, looking at him.
"No I guess not…" Jareth said, looking over his shoulder at Gerard.
"Lets go, before his guys get brave and come back." Eclipse said, turning into his demon form.
Jake pulled Abi onto his back and walked towards the woods, the others close behind. Shade too, turned into his demon form, and he and Eclipse jumped up and flew off, Jareth on Shade's back. Jake ran along the ground below them, while Abi wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and laid her chin on his shoulder.
A/n: next chappy! sorry if its boring :( i'll fix it up later! not many more chapters to go!! so bare with me! Review for me! LaterZ!
SHOUTOUT
to Abi :)