Chapter 8: Darkness

T/W: Abuse. Please note, there are hints of abuse in this chapter, but none explicitly called out. I will make sure to be calling out any warnings at the beginning of each chapter so that you can know what to expect.

Seth's Point of View

It had been two days since Sky was ripped away from him. Two days since he found her note, dangling from her bedroom window. Two days of constant fear, and occasional pain. Two days Seth wished he could take back.

Dragon,

I am so sorry I've left. He's taking me away. I don't know where. If I did, I promise you I'd tell you this time. I will be fine, don't worry about me. If it's possible, I will make my way back to you. And I expect you to be the happy go lucky boy I left behind. Remember this, I can't live without you...

I will love you until my last breath.

Sky

The words played on repeat, over and over and over again, not leaving him a second for a different thought to take over. How could she expect him not to worry when the paper was stained with her tears? How could he continue to be himself when his better half had been ripped from his life? Literally ripped from his sister's arms?

He heard a knock on the door, but didn't bother to roll over and face the intruder. He didn't need another person telling him lies about how everything would be okay. Fucking bullshit. Sethie, don't swear. He could imagine Sky scolding him for his language. His heart felt like it shattered even further.

The door opened and he heard his sister's voice trickle in. "Seth, it's time for school." He tucked his legs up and held himself together. "I get it if you aren't ready to go back yet, but at least eat something... you haven't eaten since..."

"Not hungry." He lied.

"Why not? You think starving yourself will do any good for Sky?" He gasped at the sound of her name. A still moment passed before he broke down into tears and his big sister came rushing forward to come to his aid. She pulled him into her lap, as she always did when Sky or Seth were upset. "Aw, baby brother. I am so sorry. I... I miss her too. I didn't mean to-" She cut herself short, not knowing how to finish the sentence as it hung in the air.

As Leah held him, he felt his heart momentarily pull itself together. He calmed down enough to look up at her. "She needs me, Lee Lee. I can feel it. She needs us. Now she's gone and I can't protect her. I can't... I can't do anything."

Leah frowned. "I know she does, I can feel it too. You don't know what it was like... watching her be ripped away. I wasn't strong enough to protect her. But I will be. I will kill that son of bitch if I ever see his face again." A terrifying look flashed across her eyes before she stilled again. "But what we have to do is what is in our control, and that is to be okay for mom and dad's sake. I'm trying to hold myself together. Honestly, think about it, they went from having 3 relatively happy children, to having 2 kids who act like a part of their soul has been taken. And to have to hide their grief from the loss of their third child to be the best parents they can be."

Seth took in his older sister, who was wise past her years, and realized that the girl he was looking up at, looked shattered. He grabbed hold of her hand and they sat together in silence for a few minutes. "Can we just... Can we take another day to be sad? She wants me to be myself, but I don't think I am ready to start pretending just yet."

Leah smiled, a small smile, not quite reaching her eyes. "I am down to play hookie any day, baby brother."

They passed the morning like that, laying in bed, holding each other and not saying a word. It wasn't until Seth's stomach grumbled loud enough for Leah to hear that they broke into a small burst of laughter.

"Come on, kid. Mom will make us some sandwiches." Leah could see the hesitancy in Seth when she said that. "What is it?"

His eyebrows weaved together in frustration. "I don't want her to see me this sad, I don't want to hurt her."

Leah blinked a few times before she threw her little brother over her shoulder, grateful he hadn't hit puberty just yet and walked down the stairs. "She will be happy to feed you, don't you know anything about her?"

She threw Seth down on the couch and went into the kitchen to ask their mom if she could throw together some sandwiches.

Leah came back and wiggled into her spot next to Seth. "Where's dad?" Seth asked, his voice small.

Leah looked startled for a second. "Oh... well, he is, um. He is actually filing an incident report with Chief Swan over in Forks. He is looking to see what we can do to get Sky back. See if the State can say Steve is an unfit parent and that she should be with us, for her protection." She cleared her throat. "He is going over what options we have."

Tears welled in Seth's eyes as he was reminded of just the man he wanted to be. "And, what about Emily? Is she okay?" Leah's arm around him stiffened and he looked up to see that the shattered Leah he saw earlier was being iced over. He put his hand out in an effort to keep her from freezing completely. "Lee Lee, what happened at the hospital?"

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. "Something is happening between Sam and Emily. She... she called for him in her sleep. It was as if the deepest parts of her needed him."

Seth felt his gut clench as he thought about how he had to leave the room for Sam and Emily to talk. "But she is one of your best friends. She wouldn't do that... would she?" Before she had a chance to respond, he was talking again. "Oh! What if it's the soulmate thing that daddy and Billy Black always talks about at the bonfires. Maybe it was fate forcing its hand?"

Leah coughed out a laugh. "You and Sky literally share the same brain, don't you?"

It was that moment that Sue, who had been listening to the whole conversation from the doorway, made her presence known and gave her children their sandwiches. "Who wants to watch a movie?" Both kids shrugged, so she settled for throwing some TV on as they all settled into their spots, Sky's normal spot being taken by Leah.

A few hours of inattentive TV watching passed in relative peace, if you didn't count the turmoil running through each of the Clearwater's hearts.

It was sudden, the spike in fear and adrenaline, the triggering of fight or flight that sent Seth soaring out of his seat and sending his plate crashing to the ground.

"What's wrong?" His mother called, as both she and Leah looked around the room, trying to find the source of the panic.

"I don't know." His breathing was heavy and he couldn't hold himself together. "I'm scared and I don't know why!" He paced back and forth, like a caged tiger.

"Seth, baby, Sky is probably fine. You don't need to be scared. We are going to do everything we can to get her back." Seth wondered if his mother knew how not soothing those words were.

"Thanks for reminding me-" He was cut off by a sudden jolt of pain running up his spine. The shock of it almost sent him screaming in pain. If that weren't enough, the pain of repeatedly being punched in the stomach occurred as he fell to the ground in a heap, trying to protect himself from the source of the pain. "Momma, what is happening?"

He looked up at his mother and sister, pain clear in his eyes. Leah lowered her hand to check his stomach and whipped her hand away as if she had been burned. He looked down and lifted his shirt as she had and saw the bruises already beginning to show. "Seth?" She called to him as his vision became blurry and the darkness engulfed him.

When Seth woke up he heard whispering all around him. He opened his eyes to see the entire Tribal Council standing around his bed. He wondered if he should be self conscious of this fact.

Billy Black was the first one to notice he was conscious. "Welcome back, son." He smiled at him from where he sat in his wheelchair.

"What happened?" Seth questioned with a small bow of his head in respect to his elders.

Old Quil frowned and whispered, "We were hoping you could tell us that."

"Your mother and sister explained what happened, but we would like to hear it from you." Seth's shoulders sagged in relief as he stared up at his dad.

"I was dozing off here and there on the couch with mom and Leah, when I got this really scared feeling in my chest. I got up because it felt like I needed to run or... or fight or something. And Mom was asking me what was wrong and one second I was talking to her, and the next a sharp pain happened in my back and it felt like someone was repeatedly punching me in the gut. After that Leah saw all the bruises on my stomach and then I guess I passed out?" Seth wondered if he would be called crazy and locked up.

"What do you think it means?" Seth recognized that voice all too well.

"Get out of my house, Sam! Why are you even here?" Seth felt like his whole being was starting to shake, each elder looked between Sam and the younger boy, startled, before one of them pushed Sam out of the room and the remaining elders shared the same worried glance.

"Seth, I need you to calm down." Looking up at his dad again he nodded. He felt a calmness wash over him. "Can you show me the bruises you and Leah saw?"

Seth nodded again and lifted his shirt. The bruises had faded to the point they looked like they were already a couple weeks old. His face scrunched together in confusion. "How long was I out?"

"Only a couple hours, why?"

"These bruises look weeks old."

"Son, what bruises?" Billy Black spoke slowly, clearly.

Seth looked up, searching for Leah. "Where is Lee Lee?"

Harry called upstairs for Leah and she came running down too quickly to have been doing anything other than eavesdropping. She looked around the room hesitantly, her shoulders relaxing minutely as she looked at Harry. "Yeah, dad?"

He nodded towards Seth, who spoke. "Leah, look." He lifted his shirt for her.

She approached with her hands outstretched. She gently stroked his abdomen. "How have they healed so much, already?" She looked up at him.

Seth crossed his arms and looked around the room indignantly. "I told you I wasn't lying."

Every elder in the room broke out in laughter. "Seth, no one was accusing you of being dishonest." Old Quil grinned at him. The grin fell quickly as a look of panic overtook Seth's features once again.

"This is how it started the last time!" Leah shouted, grabbing Seth's shoulders in her hands.

He reached up to his hair, trying to get the hands out of it, just to realize there was nothing there. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain on his hip, and as he lifted his shirt to look at it, he saw blood begin to trickle down onto his pants. Leah's hands were off him as she ran off, to find a towel, Seth hoped.

The cut continued to grow until it was 3 inches long. It was bleeding pretty badly and he was grateful Leah made good time. She wiped the blood away and yelled for her mom to get a bandage.

"Leah, Seth, there isn't anything there. I mean yes, I see the blood, that is certainly there. But I don't think it's yours, there isn't a scratch on you." Harry's voice had lost the calmness it had held up until that point.

His words made everything fall into place. He felt the heat drain from his body. This, all of this, was happening to Sky. This blood was hers. This scratch, hers. The pain, the fear, the anguish, hers, hers, hers.

As if he were a dear in the headlights, he reached for his dad's hands, his own covered in his best friend's blood. "It's her. It's Sky. Daddy, I know it. I know it down to my bones. She's being hurt, she's so scared. I don't know why this is happening but it is, dad, I swear. Dad please tell me you believe me... We have to help her! She is part of this family, of this tribe!" He begged, looking between all of the elders. They shared knowing looks, as if this is just the thought they had been thinking.

Seth's heart sunk, knowing he was right, knowing the pain belonged to the girl he loved more than everything in the entire world. He's taking me away. I don't know where. If I did, I promise you I'd tell you this time. I will be fine, don't worry about me. Her words spun around him, angrier and angrier until he fell into uneasy rest as the elders hypothesized what this all could mean and vowed to research all the legends of their tribe they would need to to learn the cause.

It has been 2 years, 3 months and 6 days since she was taken. It has been 2 years, 3 months and 6 days more than Seth could bare without her.

Every single day, all 827 of those days, Seth felt some sort of excruciating pain radiating through his body. Some days it happened 2 or 3 times. On the lucky days it happened only once. The lucky days were rare. The bruises and cuts faded quickly, but the worst of the pain was in his chest. These pains happened more frequently than any of the other pains. Describing it as an emotional pain didn't do it justice. It was a force to be reckoned with. A tornado ripping his heart out.

Seth was both proud of himself for the sake of his family and distraught for the sake of his best friend, that no one could tell he was having these episodes so frequently anymore. The only way to tell was to look in his eyes. He couldn't keep the pain out of them, but he could school his features well enough.

Today, the pain hadn't occurred yet. But he knew better than to think that meant she was safe for the day. That is never, ever what that meant. It just meant worse was in store. He hated the pain she was in, but in a way was grateful for the reminder that she was alive.

He looked up towards his sister, he could feel her penetrating gaze across the parking lot and he jogged over, 'happy go lucky' Seth as Sky had requested. The one that was popular and everyone wanted to be around. It was both fortunate and unfortunate for him. He became the actor he was because of it, but he had to act all of the time like he was okay.

Leah had been cold and unemotional towards everyone, except for her family. Especially Seth. They shared the bond over seeing the marks left on Seth's skin, a reminder of what Sky was going through.

He wished he could go back in time, not only to rescue Sky, but rescue his sister as well. She wasn't the same person she was 3 years ago, before the hurricane came and imploded their lives. Leah was all alone, even her best friends leaving her behind.

Seth did what he could to pretend to be normal for everyone but Leah. For the solace she provided him, he would hold her on the highest pedestal. If it weren't for her, he would be isolated completely in his despair. No one would know what went on in his 14 year old body. He wasn't sure he could bear it alone.

A lot of the guys on the reservation had up and left their friends to join Sam's cult. Sure, Seth knew his dad didn't appreciate what people were saying about Sam. But Seth would have Leah's back no matter what. Just as she would always have his. Always, they promised each other long ago that they wouldn't leave each other behind and neither of them would ever give that promise up. Seth wouldn't watch his sister lose anyone else she loved.

Kim, a girl Seth had once considered a sister, left Leah for Emily and Sam's gang. She had started dating one of the guys and honestly, she never looked back. It killed Seth to know that Leah was all alone, but he knew she felt the same about Seth being surrounded by people when he would gladly trade places in a minute, to be able to put his mask down. He knew he didn't deserve to have all these friends because when it really mattered, he wasn't able to save his best friend.

As Seth and Leah made their way home, they pushed and shoved each other playfully and talked about their equally miserable days.

"Have you heard anything from Elder Nikia yet? She seemed to have a promising lead before, right?" Leah asked, trying to keep any sign of hope out of her voice.

Seth kicked a pebble and watched it soar down the road. "Every time they give me any information, they stop and whisper to themselves and then tell me I am too young to know." He threw his hands up in frustration. "Wouldn't you think that she's too young to be going through whatever it is she is going through, alone? Shouldn't that be our focus?"

Leah scoffed. "You know it is my focus. I am tired of the, 'you'll know when you're older,' or the better 'you'll know when you become part of the Tribal Council.' Like I want to sit there and watch Sam and Emily gush about how great their life is?"

Clearing his throat, Seth decided to change the topic before she started getting hostile. "So, are you ready to go for a run? And then we can do arms when we get back?" Seth asked his big sister. It was an unspoken agreement since Sky was taken that they needed to be better, they needed to be stronger, when they got her back. They would never let ill will befall her again. Just as soon as they had her safe. That was step one. And that was where they were stuck.

"Why do you even bother asking when you already know the answer. Maybe this time you will actually be able to keep up!" She teased. It was pretty incredible how much their workout regime was working. Seth already felt stronger and he knew how much faster they were getting. Honestly, it seemed a little unreal.

They had just gotten to their house and were about to head in to change into their workout gear when the pain began.

Leah could tell, by the change in his posture, and looked in his eyes, offering to take what she could so that he wouldn't have to face it alone. They sat on the front step, waiting for the pain to pass.

Except this time, the pain was different than normal. It had him clutching at his chest, as if he were trying to help the tornado take his heart away. He couldn't hold in his fits of pain as the whimpers escaped his mouth. Leah wrapped her arms around her baby brother, not sure what to do except be there when the pain ended.

But this time, this time, the pain didn't end, not for a long while and Seth, sobbing uncontrollably, began begging her to end it. He knew in his heart of hearts that there was no way Sky survived this. Remember this, I can't live without you... I will love you until my last breath.

He prayed to the Spirits that this wasn't the last breath. He prayed to the Spirits that he would be able to hold her again. He prayed to the Spirits that he would have the chance to protect her again. He prayed to the Spirits, he would be strong enough to survive this so that he could save her.

The pain didn't end until he welcomed the darkness that came up to greet him, as if it had been waiting for his defeat all along.

A/N: Thank you Guest reviewer for sharing your thoughts! Leah will shift in this story, but I have great plans for her that I am sure you will love. I hated the disservice she got in the books and feel that she is so much deeper than people make her out to be. I will be following the storyline from the books to an extent but there will certainly be variances here and there.