Snippet #2290427

Linnie hardly noticed when James scooted over to sit next to her, still tightly grasping what should have been a mortal wound. She was far too wrapped in her own frantic thoughts, desperately trying to come to terms with what she had just learned. She would have never believed something like that normally, but this was far from normal. Even so, it was enough to make her question her sanity. She desperately hoped that she was dreaming, but this was far too real. It was also far too horrible. How could Drake want her soul?

Her eyes widened for a moment as she hesitantly thought back to Lira's body. The chest had been ripped open, and Linnet wondered...had Drake taken Lira’s soul? The thought made her tremble violently, and she felt as if she would fall apart. She tightly gripped her head with her hands as if to keep this from happening. Her trembling began, slowly, to subside, as the voices around her fell silent for a moment.

She edged her eyes up, nearly jumping when she saw James next to her. Though he was still coated in his own blood, it seemed like the flow was beginning to ebb. Her mind was suddenly void of all thoughts but one, though a faint panic was writhing somewhere in the back of her mind. I thought he would be dead. A faint sense of relief flowed through her, though a part of her knew something was not right about this. However, just seeing him next to her helped her feel calmer as the panic lessened, pushed to the back of her mind. She wondered if the wound was somehow not as severe as she thought, but as her eyes drifted to the blood that drenched his hand and the side of his neck, she knew that was not the case. How could anyone survive something like that? The answer struck her suddenly. No human would be able to survive that wound.

For a brief moment, Linnie felt something akin to betrayal. It felt like she had been deceived, though she had drawn her own conclusions. She recalled the hungry look in his eye earlier, and Drake’s threat that James would not eat until she was dead, and that James would tear her throat out if she did not die soon. Was James an angel of death like Drake? Somehow, that did not feel right. James seemed almost… innocent in a way that Drake could never seem. She remembered the gentle way James had tended to her wounds. She rubbed the strip of cloth on her hand thoughtfully, as if confirming it was real.

Suddenly, she heard a shuffling. Her eyes quickly found the source of the noise. It was Hassen, awkwardly crawling toward them. Linnie watched him with wide eyes full of terror, frozen to the spot. Everything in her wanted to run, but she found herself unable to as the man inched forward. Perhaps she felt that she could not abandon James, or maybe she was just panicking. James moved slightly, positioning himself between her and Hassen, brushing her shoulder. Hassen roughly scooped him up and slung him over his shoulder with a grimace as he straightened. He then turned and hobbled off, taking James with him.

As the other two turned to follow him, Linnie let out a gasping, pained ‘oh.’ She looked as if she would cry as she helplessly watched them walk away. Suddenly, as if she had just been released from the floor, she sprung up, ignoring the lightheadedness from the sudden movement as she stumbled after them.

She stumbled to the corner of the hall, stopping to lean against the wall as she watched the group turn another corner. The dizziness slowly subsided as she silently hurried after them, repeating this procedure until they reached the kitchen and disappeared inside a door. She had almost decided to go in after them when Hassen suddenly came out once more, still carrying James.
Though Linnet felt completely helpless, she doggedly followed, not allowing the shuffling man out of her sight. She suddenly realized they were back in the hall where their ‘rooms’ were. She stopped, watching nervously as Hassen stood before a closed door. Suddenly, he shifted James down onto the floor, adjusting the boy awkwardly before leaving.

After what seemed like a long time, Linnie could no longer hear Hassen and she cautiously started to emerge from her hiding place. She froze several times at some noise, expecting Hassen to return at any moment. A long time passed with painful slowness until she was nearly halfway down the hall. She carefully whispered, “James?” as she inched closer, still focusing hard for any noise while her eyes searched James’s face with concern.

Suddenly, she heard Hassen’s shuffling step returning. She dove behind a small end table in a feeble attempt to hide. Hassen never even noticed her as he entered, and Linnie did not even have time to breath before a terrible screech emerged from the room. Linnet clapped her hands over her ears, trying futilely to block out the sound. Hassen soon came out with Allease hanging over his shoulder, dead to all appearances. Long moments passed as he attempted to pick James up again, and Linnie followed them in a daze back to the kitchen. She could not stop herself.

Hassen left poor Allease in the kitchen and proceeded slowly upstairs, unaware of his terrified follower. Linnie stopped following when they came to the corridor with the closed door, the one they were forbidden from entering. Hassen took James inside and Linnie stared blankly after them, unsure what she should, or even could, do.