Beautifully Damaged

31. Stolen

The patter of rain against the ground and shiver-inducing coolness that had been cast over my body was stark against the memory of total silence and the absence of life. Alex’s warmth was all I could think about until I registered his own slight trembling.

With the little energy I had, I pulled back and really looked at him. His face was drawn with the drain of whatever he’d done to bring me back. I was sure that that was what he had done; my heart was devoid of any type of doubt in the matter. His grey eyes were drooping slightly, as if it was taking all he had to stay awake right now.

The tinge of grey in his pallor was what really brought it home. My tears quickly dried and I pushed myself out of his arms.

“Thank you,” I rasped.

He nodded slightly, but even I could see that he couldn’t stay out here much longer. I struggled to my feet and tried to still the shivering in my tired body. It took all I had to help Alex to his feet, though it felt good to have someone relying on me for once.

My soaked clothes clung to me, a stifling blanket of cold against my thin skin. I looked toward the school; incredulous that everything that had happened had gone unnoticed by a whole body of people inside their building.

“Drake cast a glamour,” Alex explained.

I nodded, taking in the information slowly. One word recurred in my brain dully, until I had to notice it: Drake. Where was he? My eyes widened as I looked for any trace of him.

“Where-” I began.

He was kneeling on the ground, just a couple of feet away. Drake’s eyes were cast skyward, listlessly staring at the clouds. My breath caught in my throat and my heart nearly stilled. I couldn’t move.

The stoic hardness in Drake was long gone, leaving the vulnerability of a child painting the contours of his face. His eyes were brighter and lacked the barrier that had, before, made them seem so shallow. Regardless of the changes in him, the lack of the demon in his soul, fear stole deep into my heart.

My fear was for him.

I let go of Alex’s arm, unsure of when I had taken it in the first place, and wobbled toward Drake. Please no, I thought with every beat of my heart. It didn’t matter that he’d almost killed me, or that he was a demon. Please no. The cold that made my body quiver was inside of me now, too. Ice water ran through my veins.

I knelt beside him, my hands helplessly clutched in my lap. What happened to you?

“Drake?” I whimpered, powerless to hold back the tremble in my voice.

His eyes didn’t flicker toward me; there was no sign that he heard me. I wasn’t even sure if he was there anymore. Fear stopped me from touching him, from making him notice me. I didn’t want to undo what Alex had done for me.

The rain had stopped, though the clouds still hung over us. A cool wind brushed past me and ran through his hair. Then, I understood what was happening.

Drake’s skin grayed and the tips of his hair turned to ashes, blown free with the wind. A horrified cry wrenched free from my paralyzed throat as he disintegrated, the grey flakes of his being floating across the breeze. Belatedly, I reached out, futilely hoping that I could hold him together. This wasn’t the disappearing act the other demon had used as travel; it was different this time.

This was the means to an end.

Grief, more bitter than I’d ever experienced, rose raw in my chest. I was all out of tears. When would the people I’d cared about stop being ripped out of my life?