Solacium

Ch 36: Blake

"Land this ship now!" I demanded, and Vorian immediately complied.

I braced myself against the wall of the ship's cabin as Vorian landed it into the soft grass below. Once the ship had touched the ground, Vorian opened the door and I immediately turned to leave. Climbing out of the ship, my eyes searched the clearing until they landed on Jada.

"Jada!" I cried, rushing over to her.

I heard footsteps follow behind me as Damian and Vorian ran after me, but I paid them little mind.

Kneeling beside her limp form, my hands shook as my eyes searched her body. I felt my chest sink upon seeing her body lay face down in the grass, unconscious and covered in blood. The back of her blouse was ripped open, and written in blood on the frail skin there were the words:

We'll be watching the skies

"What the hell does that mean?" Damian asked from beside me and I shook my head.

"It's a message for me," Vorian said, but I could barely hear him. Neither could I think about what that meant. At least, not right now.

All that consumed my thoughts was Jada. I could feel my eyes begin to burn with the threat of tears as I shakily reached a hand out to slowly turn her over. Facing her up in the grass, I placed my hand over my mouth when I saw her face. Bruises marked her soft features, making her face almost unrecognizable.

Images of the Deviants played in my mind and I remembered seeing innocent victims left in all sorts of grotesque and disfigured states as a result of their cruelty. Never once had I let those images get to me, but now that it was someone I cared about, it hit me. Hard.

Sucking in a shaky breath, I leaned down, pressing my ear against her chest to listen. I could hear the faint beat of her heart, providing me some form of relief, but it was frighteningly weak.

"We have to get her inside!" I said quickly, moving my arms under her legs and back to begin lifting her. As I tried to stand, I grunted against her weight and, for the first time in a while, I felt the pain from the wound on my leg begin to resurface, making me pause.

Fortunately, Vorian was at my side in an instant.

"Let me," He said, kneeling beside me. I glanced at him and our gazes met as he regarded me, his dark eyes searching my face as he waited for my reply.

"Thank you," I breathed, releasing Jada and stepping back as Vorian took my place. I watched as he gently scooped Jada up in his arms, her body going limp as he lifted her off the ground. As he stood, I noticed something had fallen from Jada's blouse, landing with a muted thud on the grass between us.

Glancing down, I immediately recognized the foreign object to be the gun I had given her before I left to find Vorian. Picking it up, I opened the chamber to see a fully loaded clip. Anger and frustration rushed through me, and I gripped the gun until my knuckles turned white.

"Let's go," I ground out, slipping the gun into the spare holster on my opposite thigh. Stepping past Vorian, he followed me as I quickly made my way to the cabin, opening the door to let him inside. I barely noticed Damian follow inside behind us before I rushed up the stairs.

Arriving at Jada's room, I opened the door as Vorian stepped inside. My eyes followed him as he brought Jada to the bed in the center of the room. Following close behind, I came to stand beside him as he carefully lowered Jada's limp form down onto the soft mattress.

Jada's head lolled to the side as Vorian released her, and I noticed that under the light of her bedroom, her face looked worryingly paler. Taking Jada's wrist, I quickly measured her pulse again. To my dismay, it had grown even more faint.